A Soldier of the Light
by Reilly.216
Summary: Join Entity, the master sniper, and his own fire-team as they desperately attempt to secure Humanity's future by negotiating a risky truce with Humanity's oldest enemy. (Set before the events of 'In His Footsteps')
1. Chapter 1

_A Soldier of the Light_

_Chapter I – Humble Beginnings_

_**Earth, Old Russia, near Mothyards**_

The Ghost sighed in obvious exasperation, though there was nobody around to hear it. It initiated another scan on the barren ground, a bluish glow covering the earth surface as it looked around for any sign of hope. It had been searching for a Guardian for many months, travelling to the Moon, to Venus and briefly to Mars in order to find the ghostly remains of a long forgotten warrior.

For the past few weeks it'd been travelling with a friendly scavenger, whom it'd met with near the base of the Tower. The scavenger had kindly offered to help it in return for a few Glimmer. The Ghost had accepted, promising the scavenger a hundred Glimmer in advance and another hundred upon finding a Guardian.

The Ghost resumed working his gruelling work. Other Ghosts back at the Tower had told it about how finding a Guardian was a very special and unique occasion. _Of course_, they would say, _it's an individual experience that's slightly different for every Ghost. But when you resurrected your Guardian for the first time, something… changes in you somehow. As if you were now not only physically connected to another being now, but you were one and the same._

The Ghost had dismissed this as merely faction-influenced garbage, but he had to admit – he certainly was excited at the prospect of meeting an ancient and long-dead warrior.

_Ping!_

The Ghost could hardly believe it, its results had come back positive. He had found a Guardian! Its on-board circuits could hardly work fast enough. The Ghost expanded into its spherical state and pulsed, in and out, constructing the Guardians body and gathering nearby materials to scrape into make-shift armour and cloth. It experienced its last seconds as a Guardian-less Ghost and prepared to resurrect the Guardian.

_His _Guardian.

Nothing.

Nothing but the inky blackness surrounding his mind. He knew he was dead, but he didn't expect it to feel so… _empty_. So… lonely. Then, quite suddenly, he began to feel warm. It was a strange sensation, especially as he hadn't been able to feel _anything _for the past… actually, he didn't know how long he'd been dead. A minute? A day? A year? Longer? Time was meaningless here, wherever _here _was.

The sensation grew hotter and hotter until he felt as if he was burning from the inside out. His whole body was on fire, ignited by some unknown force. If he were able to, he probably would have been screaming, begging for the feeling to stop.

Then the feeling stopped and slowly, ever so slowly, he began to open his eyes until he was squinting into the moonlight sky. The scene that greeted him was very different from the inky blackness he had grown oddly fond of.

He was lying on his back, he knew that. But he could _feel _the ground beneath him. He could feel the light wind billow through his clothing and on his face.

And he could hear a… voice, calling to him. The voice sounded as if it was underwater, but was slowly growing louder until he could clearly hear every word.

"Come on, Guardian, you need to get up." The voice said, matter-of-factly.

That word, _Guardian_. Was the voice addressing him?

"We need to go, Guardian. We're not safe here, newly risen warriors _usually _don't know up from down. I have to get you to the Tower, ASAP."

He sat up. His back protested at the effort, but he proceeded to stand up to his full height. He was around 5'10, and his framework was designed to allow him to be stealthy and agile, granting him the innate ability to move on any battlefield like a whisper in the night. But for all this, he still couldn't recall who he was. He didn't know what his purpose was.

He couldn't even remember his _name._

There were quick flashes of memories somewhere in his head but they were few and far between. He had no_ real_ knowledge of his past life, but that would have to wait. Right now, he had to focus on staying _alive_.

The Ghost was almost glowing with excitement. It'd _done_ it. It'd raised its very own Guardian from the dead. Dissipating in thin air, the Ghost evaporated into its owner .However, it knew that it had to put its contentment aside and focus on getting the Guardian to the City in one piece; he didn't feel like he could perform another resurrection on this trip.

At that moment, a deafening roar rang out across the barren wasteland. It was a chilling sound, one that would cause dread and trepidation in most people.

It was a Fallen battle cry.

The Exo Guardian looked around the plane grave-yard frantically, searching for the source of the haunting roar. He had no idea what could have produced such a sound, and frankly, he didn't want to know. Crouching next to the shell of an ancient vehicle, he warily poked his head above the cab, just high enough to see what was on the other side. Nothing but the wreckage of long-forgotten planes met his mechanical gaze.

"_Perhaps we should find a weapon?"_ The voice in his head spoke up its suggestion.

The sudden company to his thoughts made him flinch. His body fell forward onto the wreckage of the truck to support him, making a clanking noise as he made contact. Metal on metal.

A resonating clanging echoed throughout the empty landscape. The Exo held its breath, hoping that the noise had gone unnoticed by the alien. Maybe there were more…

Another battle cry rang out, and there was no doubt in the Exo's mind that the crier was now hunting him down. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no idea where the sound was coming from as the sound of the roar echoed all around him, bouncing off the ancient metal planes, filling the air around him with a roar of bad tidings.

"_So are we going to wait here for you to die again, or are you going to find a weapon?"_ The voice in his head repeated.

"Who are you?" The Exo asked, suspicious of the new voice. There was something in it though, something that he knew he could trust.

"_There's no time! We have to move if you're going to get out of here in one piece!"_ The voice was more urgent now, beginning to panic.

He took the anonymous advice to heart and began to navigate between the wrecks of a time long since passed. Weaving his way from plane to plane, the Exo tried to stay hidden from his yet-to-be-seen pursuer. Or _pursuers,_ he wasn't too sure. His feet flew across the ground as he stuck to the shadows, his form hidden amongst the derelict husks perfectly. His movement hardly caused a whisper, let alone any noise. Venturing into one of the old plane wrecks, the Exo crouched next to an oddly shaped crate. It had strange markings on it, probably a warning to any trespassers – of which he was counted in. It was next to one of these crates that he found his first weapon – a beefy looking rifle. It was a matte-black colour, the same as his 'skin' armour-plating. He picked it up and got a feel for its weight. It fitted nicely into his hands and he hefted it as if aiming at a foe.

"_It's a Cydonia-AR3." _The voice commented on the Exo's new discovery. _"It's old, but it'll do."_

The Exo ignored the voice, as he supposed that he was going to need to be able to get used to sharing his head with another. This time, he exited the wreckage with confidence – now he had a weapon at his side that he could call upon if things went awry. He was low on ammunition, he realised, another thing to add to the to-do list of things he needed to sort out. Not getting killed had claimed the top spot, closely followed by his need to figure out who or _what_ was talking to him.

Keeping a close eye on his surroundings, the Exo began to weave between the ancient machines with dextrous efficiency. Taking cover next to the rotor engine of one of the plane's wings, he peeked cautiously around the corner – and his eyes widened in astonishment.

Standing with its back turned to him was one of the aliens hunting him.

At a fleeting glance, one could have passed it off for a human soldier wearing some kind of new battle armour. Upon closer inspection, the humanoid creature was revealed to be much more. It wore a dark red cape, covering a large portion of its back. It had four upper limbs. The lower two were crossed in boredom, and in the other two laid a lethal-looking weapon. Its armour was a light grey in most places, in other places it was a lighter shade of white - presumably where the alien had attempted to clean it in futility. Its stance suggested that it was quite bored. Its commanding officer must have told it to stay put whilst he went to investigate the cause of the battle cry.

As far as the Exo could tell, the alien was alone.

Sneaking up behind him, the Exo looked at the creature's calves. Strapped there, glinting slightly in the moonlight was a deadly-looking knife. Removing the knife from its home, the Exo held it as if it were a sword, blade up - the serrated edge facing away from him and towards… _it._ The same serrated edge slid effortlessly into the alien's neck. In half-surprise, half-agony, the creature dropped its weapon and attempted to remove the deadly item from its throat. It was far too late for that though, for no sooner had the creature's hands reached its neck had the Exo slid the knife back out again, a white gas seeping out of the wound as the alien choked to death.

With a rasping groan, the alien died. The Exo quickly proceeded onwards, not wanting to be caught by the alien's friends.

"_Over there! Look!"_ The voice said, attracting the Exo's attention to a building on the horizon. It looked like some kind of relay station. A radar dish was sticking out of it, giving the impression that it may have been used to direct these same planes that now occupied the graveyard to land safely.

"_It's possible that there might just be something we can use in there to get out of here."_

The Exo simply nodded as a sign of acknowledgement. He began the slow climb up to the complex, hoping against the odds that he would find some kind of transport to escape from this plane graveyard.

**Authors Note:**

**Hey, guys! This is my first ever story, so don't set your expectations too high! Anyway, I should probably mention that (whilst I own the Exo character you were reading about) I don't own the 'In His Footsteps' story, the character was originally in that story first because I submitted him as an OC to the author, and I thought I should give him an origins story. So, here you go!**

**Reviews are appreciated, so please - take a couple of minutes out of your busy schedules to send me some feedback, okay?**

**Anyway, I might be asking for some OC suggestions soon, so if you want a better chance for your submitted character to be chosen, do it sooner rather than later. I expect to update this once every couple of weeks. **

**Thanks for reading – and I'll see you all in a couple of weeks!**

**Keep well and stand firm Guardians!**


	2. Chapter 2

_A Soldier of the Light_

_Chapter 2 – The Duel_

The Exo had been walking along the barren wasteland for a while now. He was always on the lookout for any more of the creatures; it had been a while since he'd last heard any battle cries, and so he supposed that they had given up their search for him. He was alive, at least for now.

_That clears that off the list of things to do. What was next? Ah, yes, the mysterious voice._

He wasn't sure if it was able to hear him, frankly he had absolutely no idea if it was even _real._ The Exo supposed that it had to be, considering the fact that he had no idea what else could describe how he was now surrounded by aliens, in a plane graveyard in (what appeared to be) many years into the future. He decided to find out.

"You never answered my question, you know. Who are you?"

A moment of awkward silence passed before the response came.

"_It's not so much _who _I am, so much as _what_ I am." _ The response came.

Suddenly, the air directly in front of the Exo seemed to shimmer slightly. Then, with a burst of air and an almost inaudible _whoosh_ sound, a small object hovered next to him. It didn't seem possible at first, its polygon-like shape seemed to spin and whir, all the while, a blue _eye_ concentrated on his every movement.

"_I am a Ghost, well, more specifically – _your_ Ghost. Ghosts are the final manifestation of the Traveller's Light, excluding Guardians, of course."_ It said.

The hovering ball of technology seemed to be speaking directly to him, as if it were another being, like a human would stare at their mother with affection and respect. The same look occupied the Ghost's expression when it looked at him.

"Okay." Was all the Exo could say in reply.

"_We can have a friendly chit-chat later. Right now, we have to get to that building and hope that we can find something flyable that Fallen haven't already picked clean, okay?" _The Ghost stated, obviously keen to be on its way.

The Exo nodded, understanding the need for transport, and with it; escape.

Crouching, the Exo approached the compound warily. He had no idea how many Fallen could be occupying this particular building. It could be anything from a small scouting party resting here whilst on their way back to their main encampment, or alternatively it could _BE_ the main encampment they were on their way back to.

"_I'm getting readings of multiple heat signatures inside the building, around half a dozen or so. Nothing you can't handle, even if you_ were _just resurrected." _The Ghost said, offering the Exo all the intel it had managed to gather.

"Well, here goes nothing." The Exo said to nobody in particular, and he set off.

As he came nearer to the compound, about a metre or so away from the main entrance, he overheard some of the Fallen speaking to one another. It seemed that they were in the middle of some kind of argument.

Peeking in through a small hole in the wall, the Exo saw the source of the commotion. A large vandal, much like the one he had encountered a short while ago, seemed to be arguing with a Captain.

_Probably his commanding officer_; he thought.

The debate seemed to be reaching an intense climax, with both members shouting out their individual demands.

"Ghost, can you translate some of this?" The Exo gently whispered.

"_There isn't much to go on when it comes to the Fallen language, but I'll do what I can." _It replied, just as quietly.

A few moments passed, both of the Fallen continued to speak their guttural, primal language of roars and throaty noises. Then, suddenly, the speech began to morph into a mixture of Fallen and English. The Exo was the only one who could hear the odd sound, so he wasn't worried about blowing his cover.

"Do…viix… want to die?!" shouted the Vandal. The Captain stared at him, furious.

"Ivk…will not… haav… my authority challenged! Miik… orders are law!" It shouted in return.

"Miik…friend died… bekauz… YOU told him to 'stay put'!" The Vandal returned, with just as much venom in his voice.

To the Exo, it was all very strange. Could they be arguing about that Vandal he had killed? It would make sense. The arguing Vandal was most likely a friend of the recently deceased alien and probably wanted to avenge him, the Captain, on the other hand, probably didn't want to waste his time trying to chase down the killer and wanted to push on to find more scrap to bring to its Kell.

"Viix… friend died… bekauz hee… was too idiotic to hear the Guardian coming! It's not… miik falt!" The Captain shouted. "Continue… withe vaat viik… are doing… ande,,, you will join him!" he added. This seemed to make the angered Vandal remember his place, and he faltered.

The Captain saw this, pressing his advantage home. "Challenge… miik… authority again, and… Ivk… will kill… viik… where you stand!" The Captain waited for a reply. When none came, he snorted, satisfied that he had imposed his superiority onto the Vandal. The Vandal in question bowed and backed away, skulking back into the small group of Dregs and Vandals that had been watching the argument with alarm. Now the Captain turned to his crew, addressing them all at once.

"Now, if… viik… are all ready,… miik… scouts have reported a ship… dheepre… inside this complex! Wee… will go to this… sheip… and salvage what we can." The Captain said in an authoritative tone.

With that, the Captain ordered his crew to get some sleep; they were going have their work cut out for them in the morning. Unfortunately for them, the Exo saw this as his perfect time to strike.

Checking that his clip was fully loaded, the Exo stood up and aimed the barrel of the weapon towards the Fallen Dregs and Vandals. Taking in a breath, he squinted down the sights and lined up the shot.

He pulled the trigger.

Immediately, the entire room the Fallen occupied was littered with hot lead, they ripped the Dregs apart as if their skin was made of paper, and embedded themselves into Vandal limbs and bodies. The Captain had wasted no time in sprinting for cover at the other end of the room, caring for only himself as his subordinates were ripped to shreds by the hail of bullets. Ethereal white bloodstains marked the floor wherever a Fallen lay down to die. The white gas that exuded from their wounds seeped into the air. It was a truly beautiful spectacle, and the scenes of death were harrowingly gorgeous to the Exo.

It was over in seconds, only the Captain and the Exo remained alive. A deafening silence descended on the building as the Exo reloaded his rifle and aimed at the wall the Captain had taken cover behind.

A few seconds passed by before the Captain decided to emerge from cover. As he peeked his head around the corner, the Exo wasted no time in firing a few bullets at its head. The alien's shields held and protected him from damage.

The Exo cursed as the Captain came towards him in blind rage, bringing his swords down onto him as he approached the Exo. Just before the pair of lethal-looking weapons could make contact with the Exo's metallic 'flesh', the Guardian brought out his knife it had taken from the Vandal it had killed and just managed to block the weapons in time to avoid major damage. The Exo's blade was less of a knife and looked much more similar to a kukri or machete, it was old, but it did its job. Blocking the incoming strike, the Exo dodged the next attack by ducking and swiped at the Captains legs. But the alien was too quick, seeing the incoming attack and turning it to his advantage by landing on the blade, pinning it (and the Exo) to the floor.

Releasing the blade, the Exo rolled backwards to avoid the blow that would have incapacitated (or even killed) him. The Exo regained his footing and stood up, looking the angry Captain in the eyes. Then, without any ceremony, the Captain threw one of his swords onto the ground at the Exo's feet. The incentive was clear, the Captain wished to battle him in a fair fight. The Exo looked from the blade to the Captain, half-expecting it to strike the moment he bent down to pick it up, the Captain simply nodded begrudgingly, deciding that it wouldn't kill an un-armed opponent. As the Exo picked up the weapon, the Captain straightened up and bowed slowly - out of respect for the coming battle between equally skilled warriors. The Exo returned the humble gesture, and changed his stance to prepare for the oncoming duel. The Captain did the same and began to pace in a circle, the Exo did the same.

This slow dance went on for a minute or two until the Captain suddenly launched his attack. The Exo side-stepped the strike with obvious grace, and returned by stabbing the Captain in the thigh. The Fallen yelped in pain, but tried to ignore the injury. The Exo was attempting to lure the Captain into fighting without technique, to attack out of blind anger and rage. The Captain attempted to hit the Guardian again - and again, he suffered an injury. This time across his chest.

The fight went on like this for a number of minutes; the Captain would go to strike (occasionally landing hits on the Exo) and would retire to his side of the room with another wound. After a short while, the Captain was visibly angering at the futility of his efforts, to say nothing of the evident pain he must be feeling. If the ethereal white blood seeping down his armour was anything to go by, the Guardian would agree that the Captain must have had an immense tolerance to pain as well an almost infinite amount of patience.

_Almost._

"_Entitee!" _it cried, as it ran at the Guardian.

The Captain sprinted at the Exo. The attack would have caught him off-guard if it had been the Captain's first attack, but it wasn't, and the creature was tired with fatigue after wasting its time trying to harm the Guardian.

In the end, it mattered little. The Exo could have run the creature through with one eye shut and an arm tied behind his back, his dexterity and natural talent with the blade was more than a match for the exhausted Captain. The end of the sword speared through the middle of the Captain's chest and protruded from its back, rupturing vital organs as it went. A moment of silence passed, shortly after which the Captain sighed as though he had been waiting for the sweet honour of death for a while, but nobody had been able to grant such a gift to him.

The Exo could visibly see that the Captain had mere moments left of this life. The alien's shoulders were sagged and his back was hunched over. Then, as a last act of defiance, the Captain locked eyes with the newly-born Guardian and said, almost inaudibly;

"Entitee…"

And with that, the Captain died. It eyes now lifeless and staring at the Guardian, though there was no intelligence behind the steely gaze, nor hatred or a loathing or revulsion – just… peace. Peace at last.

The Exo stood there for a while, looking at the body of the Captain. He had shown the Exo honour, and the Captain had retained his honour until his last, dying breath.

"Ghost?" The Exo asked the empty room.

"Yes, Guardian, what is it?" The Ghost said in a friendly tone as it materialised out of thin air.

"That Captain, he said something to me. I don't know what it means, he said before the duel and afterwards too – just before he died…" The Exo said quietly. "What does it mean, 'Entitee'?"

The Ghost stayed quiet for a moment before answering, as if it was searching its data-banks for the translation.

"Well, there isn't actually a word in the English language that it translates smoothly into. But, from what I can gather, it runs along the lines of 'Victory goes to the honourable'. Why did you want to know?" His Ghost asked.

The Exo picked up his rifle and strapped it to his back, and then began to walk in the direction the Captain had indicated a jump-ship would be.

"No reason. It's just… I don't know, I feel like I owe him something, does that make sense?" The Exo asked the Ghost, who simply dematerialised and stayed quiet.

Walking away, the Guardian turned back to look towards the Captain's body. Then, for some reason, he didn't quite know why, he walked over to the still-warm carcass and removed the sword from its chest with a wet sucking sound. The Exo regarded the weapon with interest; he hadn't had a chance to examine properly before fighting the Captain. But now that he did, he saw the jagged teeth running across one side of the blade and he caught a glimpse of the crackling electricity running across its steel length.

"Well, he _did_ offer it to me, after all…" he said under his breath, as he slid the sword between his belt and his hip.

The Exo began his journey deeper into the complex without casting another glance back at the trail of dead bodies he had left in his wake. As he walked, he contemplated that he should honour the Captain some way, and since he didn't remember his real name, he decided it was only fitting that he take up the mantle of the alien warrior's battle-cry – 'Victory goes to the honourable'.

'Entitee'.

No,_ Entity__…_

**Author's note:**

**Hey, guys. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I worked hard on it, so I'd really appreciated some reviews. I expect to update every fort-night on Fridays. I'm still accepting OC's, so if you want your Guardian to feature in this story, please send me their age, race, class, sub-class, background, etc.**

**Remember, the more detailed the suggestion the more chance you have of getting a place. My fellow author and friend, Razzack, has given me permission to use Raz from the 'In His Footsteps' and 'His own Path' stories. If you haven't read them yet, go check 'em out, they're really good!**

**Keep well and stand firm, Guardians!**


	3. Chapter 3

_A__Soldier of the Light_

_Chapter 3 – Arrival_

Finding the jump-ship had been easy, much easier than Entity had anticipated. He had expected to find the room full of Fallen, all clawing at the metal construction and each other in order to get a piece. In reality, the ship was alone. No Dregs clambering over its surfaces, or Servitors attempting to gain access to its on-board mainframe – not that he was complaining, he enjoyed the peace and quiet the lack of hostiles allowed him to revel in.

His Ghost had been able to reboot the jump-ships on-board systems using what he called 'trickery and persuasion'. The Exo hadn't the slightest idea of what he meant, but he didn't bother to ask. It didn't matter; he was too busy marvelling at the apparent impossibility of the ship's ability to hover in place two metres above the ground.

"Guardian, gawping at the ship isn't going to get us to the City any faster." The Ghost stated, with dry humour in its voice. "But it's always nice to have someone admire my handiwork. Come on, you need to get inside."

Suddenly, Entity began to feel a tingling sensation - not unlike the one he had felt when he was resurrected, albeit the feeling was much more pleasant. The feeling began at his head and toes and raced toward one another, filling his entire body with the odd sensation. It lasted less than a couple of seconds, and before he could truly contemplate what was happening, he found himself looking at the dirty and worn controls of the jump-ship.

Sitting in the seat, the Exo began to feel tired and sluggish. He felt as if his limbs more accurately represented the metal they were made from as they increased in weight. It was at this point that his neuro-sensors began to slow down as he descended into a temporary shutdown, or 'sleep' as the humans liked to call it. The Ghost looked from the flight controls over to his sleeping Guardian; Entity, which was what he was calling himself now. The Ghost thought of it as a strange sentiment to name oneself – especially after a Fallen battle cry. The use of names was a strange concept to him, although he was familiar with Guardians giving their Ghosts nicknames, he'd always thought of himself as 'Ghost' - nothing more, nothing less.

But he was getting distracted; he _needed_ to get his Guardian to the City. Seeing as his Guardian was an Exo, he would need a full diagnostic for any faults or technical issues from the resurrection before he would be allowed to be put on the active roster. First-time resurrections were always strange, as the Guardian was more susceptible to illness if they were organic, and faulty circuitry was more prevalent if they were an Exo. Once the diagnostic would be complete, the Ghost would need to submit his Guardian to one of the Tower's many drill-sergeants, who would survey and train new Guardians that arrived in the City. Based upon the strengths the Guardians showed during training, their results at the end of the two month period would decide what class they were going to be and what kind of fighting tactics suited them best.

For example, it is a well-known fact that Titans excel at close-quarters combat, wielding shotguns and pulse-rifles for face-to-face encounters. Therefore, it was possible that Entity would be a Titan, based on his earlier skirmish with the Fallen Captain. The Ghost thought about this for a few moments, and then decided against it. His Guardian _had_ shown considerable skill when up-close-and-personal to the Captain, but he wasn't the right build for the Titan role. They were built for taking damage and dealing twice as much, in comparison, it appeared as if his Guardian would be destroyed in an instant if he went in guns blazing to a fire-fight.

The small orb also mused over the other two (more likely) options for his Guardian – Warlock or Hunter. The Ghost pondered over the role as a Warlock. _'A wielder of Arcane magic'_ - to be a Warlock was truly a prestigious title. For most of their time, Warlocks often remained within the Tower's upper floors, dedicating their intellect and deep understanding of knowledge to discover new technologies we can use to fight back against the Darkness. Warlocks did not only create great marvels, but could destroy them just as easily and as naturally as breathing. This Ghost in particular had once encountered a Warlock with such understanding of Void knowledge that she could summon great manifestations of her power into physical form and launch balls of pure Void magic at her enemies – obliterating them instantly. It would truly be a great honour to be able to have a Guardian capable of wielding such vast amounts of the Light's power. But it knew that its Guardian hadn't used any form of arcane knowledge against the Fallen they had encountered, so he doubted that he would turn out to be some great wielder of such raw power. Which left only one option.

A Hunter.

Hunters were the masters of the Frontier, able to destroy whole legions of enemies without raising any alarms. They were able to kill almost any opponent from almost any position on the battlefield. In the end, it would matter little, if a Hunter set his sights on you, your current moments were your last. Proficient with any weapon in their hands, they employ stealth and cunning over brute force that Titans usually employ. They were able to throw knives with dextrous and deadly efficiency on any target, as well as hit their mark with any weapon ranging from the small but deadly Hand-Cannons, to something with a bit more punch, like a Sniper Rifle or Rocket Launcher.

Based on his agility and natural stealth abilities, the Ghost thought that this class would be the one that his Guardian would turn out to be. However, it didn't really matter what class the Guardian would choose to be , because at the end of the day, the Ghost knew that he would readily sacrifice anything to protect its Guardian. The training would decide, not the Ghost - though it could calculate the most likely outcome quite easily.

Brief flashes of intense orange hues, explosions, screaming, loud voices shouting orders.

The images that plagued Entity's sleep made dreaming difficult for him. He couldn't remember much, just brief bursts, like somebody had taken a picture of what he was seeing and then spilt ink over most of the photo, obscuring nearly every detail - save for a limited _precious_ few.

His memories seemed to depict some kind of battle, some forgotten struggle. The images in his head showed him little, if any, specifics about it. He supposed it didn't matter, as it was in the past, and he knew how it would end anyway – with his corpse splayed across the ground like some child's mistreated ragdoll. But, he felt like _these_ memories were important somehow. As if some detail was intrinsically - _impossibly_ - linked to his current situation. Like some minor detail marred his future in some way.

He wasn't sure. It was only a feeling after all. Yet, something in his mind was _drawn_ to the possibility that, somehow, this particular memory was important in some way.

He would have mused more over these possibilities, but he was awoken by his Ghost's insistent demand for him to wake up.

"Guardian, come on. Get up. Trust me - you're going to want to see this." The Ghost said, as he roused its Guardian from his slumber. The Guardian made a noise akin to a teenager groaning at his mother's insistence that they wake up. Eventually though, Entity did open his eyes, and was he glad that he did.

In front of them lay a great spectacle; a giant white _ball_ was hovering in mid-air. It seemed to defy logic itself; it was a truly beautiful sight. Near its base, it seemed to appear as if the ball had been ripped open by some giant malevolent forceful creature, as a gaping hole ruined the great spherical beauty of the spectacle. At the sight of this imperfection, Entity felt some unexplainable sense of anger. For some unknown reason, he felt as if he wanted to punish whoever had committed such a heinous act against something so beautiful. Now, the Exo's gaze fell slightly and looked towards some kind of centre of population, a city.

_The_ City.

Nestled under the shadow of the giant ball, lay an enormous metropolis with a well-established perimeter of one hundred-foot high walls to guard its boundary. All the space available inside the wall was completely taken up by buildings and other skyscrapers. The one that caught Entity's eye was a towering structure unlike the others. It seemed more regal, more elegant. It wasn't quite perpendicular to the ground it stood on; instead it rose at a slight slanted angle.

As the relic of a ship approached the Tower, a hangar area revealed itself; cut into the side of the structure. It was here that the ship set down cautiously. The Ghost probably worrying that the slightest incorrect manoeuvre could result in the ship falling apart.

As the vessel set down on the floor of the hangar, the Guardian was trans-matted outside. Only to be greeted by an excited-looking blonde woman. A couple of others were gathering around the ancient vehicle, admiring its shape and design. The blonde woman approached Entity, beaming.

"That's a mighty fine wreck you got there, Guardian." She said as she cast a glance over to it. "Where'd you find it?"

The Exo simply shrugged his shoulders, not really seeing anything exceedingly special or odd about the craft. The Ghost materialised and floated over to the woman.

"In the Cosmodrome, Old Russia - it was in a deserted warehouse. Why, Amanda, what's so bad about it?" The Ghost enquired.

Amanda turned to the Ghost, almost at a loss for words. A cross look suddenly struck her appealing features.

"W-wrong?! There's nothing _wrong_ about it!" She pointed to the wreck. "It may be a little neglected over the centuries, but if I gave this baby a new ion-drive and a paint-job, maybe a couple of other features too…" She mused to herself, "It could be the finest in the fleet!"

This took Entity by surprise. Back in Russia, he hadn't really cared about whether or not the ship was visually appealing, he just needed a ride out of the area. He was about to say something, but thought better of it and turned to go. The Ghost saw this and quickly said its apologies to Holliday, asking her to do what she could for the old ship, before chasing after its Guardian – dematerialising as it came closer.

"That was rude." It said. The Exo simply shrugged. "Anyway, we need to get you to the Vanguard, report your arrival." The Ghost re-materialised in front of the Exo and simply said;

"Welcome home."

"Doesn't look like much, does he?" Cayde-6 said, as he regarded Entity's slightly smaller-than-average frame.

"Peace, Cayde. I doubt I have to remind you of your appearance when you first came to the Vanguard." The black woman closest to the Hunter Vanguard retorted, defending Entity. Cayde merely shrugged. Ikora turned to regard Entity.

"Welcome, Guardian. My name is Ikora Rey. I speak on behalf of the Warlock's of the Tower. That-", she nodded towards the Hunter Vanguard, "-is Cayde-6, he stands for the Hunter's. He issues most of the tasks you'll find doing routine patrols around the Frontier."

Cayde acknowledged Ikora with a small nod, but leant back over a scroll of paper. To Entity's eyes, it resembled some kind of map.

She glanced over to another man on the far end of the long table. He was a large man with bulky armour and a hard face.

"That is Commander Zavala. He represents the Titans and orders Guardians into their fire-teams and the missions they take to destroy the Darkness." The Commander didn't move, or even acknowledge Ikora or Entity in any way, too preoccupied with his work to care. Ikora addressed him now, with an air of authority, and something else – perhaps suspicion.

"Now, you know who we are, Guardian. But who are you?" She asked, clearly expecting an answer.

"Entity." He said, quietly. He didn't particularly like this woman, her title as Vanguard made little difference to his opinion. At his response, the woman looked confused.

"That's it?" she asked. "No number? Nothing else?"

Entity was slightly confused by her response. He shook his head in response. His Ghost materialised to explain further.

"Vanguard Ikora, when I resurrected him, he admitted that he had no recollection of his previous life. I know that that isn't strange, but in his case it was particularly… severe." The Ghost cast a glance over to Entity, whose ice-blue optics watched the conversation with prying eyes. "He didn't even remember his own name." Ikora nodded gravely, letting the Ghost continue. "In our journey to escape, we came across a small group of Fallen. Entity eliminated most of them without a problem, but the Captain didn't go down without a fight – literally. When Entity found himself unarmed and at the Captain's mercy, the Captain did something quite… _unexpected_." This piqued Ikora's interest.

"Go on." She said.

"Well, he challenged my Guardian to, well… a _duel_. Entity managed to beat him, and well… er… let's just say – there's a reason behind the name." The Ghost stayed in front of the Warlock for a few seconds more, when she didn't comment, it de-materialised back to its Guardian.

Ikora now looked toward Entity with veiled fascination, though he saw right through her mask.

"Very well, I will not pry further. I'm sure you have your reasons for such a name." She turned to her Ghost, who quietly said something to her. After the exchange had finished, she turned to face the Exo. "You are to report to your quarters. New Guardians without classes stay in the Living Hall, until your class is decided, you will stay there. Training begins at 10:00 hours tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

Entity turned and left the room and descended into the Tower to find his living space.

Finding the hall was simple; Entity's Ghost guided him through the corridors and hallways. What wasn't so simple was finding somewhere to stay for the night. The Living Hall was full of Humans, Awoken and Exo's - nearly all of which seemed to be conversing with each other or chatting with their Ghosts. The select few were sleeping or sitting on their own, contemplating their behemoth task as a Guardian of the Light - a Soldier of the Light. Entity's optics skimmed the room, looking for somewhere to rest. He saw a bunk-bed with its top-bunk already occupied, he strolled over and sat on the bed.

Entity remained still for a little while, sitting quietly. He was nothing more than a spectator, looking at all the gathered Guardians with inexperience and lack of combat knowledge. He was listening to their conversations absent-mindedly; he was hearing their words, but not really taking anything in. It wasn't until he was punched in the jaw, that he started paying attention to his surroundings.

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**So, I'd like to thank the people that have reviewed this story and submitted their OC's. For anyone who still wants to submit an OC, please put it in the reviews section with all their relevant info. Remember, the more detail you can describe for your character, the more likely it is that you'll get picked. Submission's will no longer be accepted past February 13****th**** (Oooh, scary!), so get submitting or risk not getting involved in the story.**

**I've decided to shorten my update window from every fort-night to once per week, maybe twice if you're good.**

**Stand firm, Guardians!**


	4. Chapter 4

_A Soldier of the Light_

_Chapter 4 – Training Begins_

The blow threw Entity across the floor of the Living Hall; he only stopped because he impacted on a hard surface, hurting his back. A large, burly-looking black man stomped over to him – a menacing look on his ugly face. The man clasped a beefy hand around Entity's neck, crushing his voice-box.

"That's my bed. Hands off!" the black man bellowed; his voice rumbled like rusty machinery, his breath was awful. Entity's Ghost appeared next to its Guardian.

"Excuse me, -" The Ghost began. But he was cut off by the large man's other hand clasping around it.

"Shut it, squawky." He said in a menacing tone. He threw the Ghost to one side and it hit a wall on the other side of the room, stunning it. The Ghost attempted to regain its senses, but its blue 'eye' was flickering, clearly damaged. With a rattling sigh, it floated down to the floor, unconscious (or, you know, the equivalent of 'unconscious' in Ghost terms).

Entity suddenly began to anger at the sight of his Ghost coming to harm, but he knew he would have to play it smart if he was going to get out of this alive, the black man was far too large to take on alone. The black man turned back around to the Exo, regarding his angry expression.

"What's wrong, whelp? You got nothing to say?" He laughed at his own joke; it was a throaty metallic sound, and just as unpleasant as his face. By this time, a small crowd had gathered around the two Guardians, their faces had mixed expressions on them. Some wore faces of contentment, eager to see the Exo take a beating. Others had creased lines of concern written on their features, whilst others (typically Warlocks) regarded the fight with curious expressions, analysing each combatant for their strengths and weaknesses. All of them were evaluating whether or not the Exo would survive the fight, if you could call it that. None of them stepped in, though. Bastards, all of them.

Well, _nearly _all.

"No, he probably doesn't, especially considering you've got your fist around his throat." commented a solitary voice, the black man whipped around, scanning the assembled crowd for the interruptive voice.

"Who said that?" he half-said-half-shouted at the members of the group.

The crowd parted, revealing a slim young woman in the midst of the collection. She wore a cocky expression on her face, showing her self-confident nature. Entity watched with fascination; who was this white knight?

"You!" The black man said, his rusty voice brimming with rage at the very sight of the young woman.

"Me." The white knight said, joking at the bully's expense. "Now, why don't you put the Exo down? He's done nothing to hurt you – or upset you in any way."

Now the young woman addressed the assembled crowd of people. "Can't we settle this like the intelligent beings we are?" she cast a glance over to the black man, "Well, _us_ at least."

The large man roared and launched himself at the Warlock, letting go of Entity's throat. But the woman saw him coming and side-stepped the charging man, who lost his balance and fell over. She tutted.

"Guess not." The woman chuckled to herself. "Why are you doing this, Kyle?"

Kyle looked at the smaller woman. Indecision clouding his features, like a school-boy looking for an excuse for doing something naughty.

"He was sitting in my bed." Kyle said, angrily.

"_My _bed, you mean."

"No, I saw it first." The black man shouted.

"Listen, if you wanted to sleep with me, all you had to do was ask." She looked over to Entity, and then turned back to Kyle. "You want to sleep with me so much; you'd fight a guy for the bed. I mean, I know I'm good-looking, but_ jeez_ dude, you'd have to buy me dinner first." The woman said in a mockingly sultry tone. The crowd laughed at this, Kyle stood up and ran at the young woman again, rage clouding his mind. She smiled once more, and clicked her right hand.

Immediately a barrier of purple light blocked Kyle's path, blocking his progress. Kyle bounced harmlessly off the translucent material, landing on the floor with a _'thud!'. _He was out cold.

The Warlock grinned to herself and walked over to Entity, beaming. Entity simply looked at her in astonishment, though he made sure not to show it on his face.

"Thanks" Entity said simply.

The woman looked at him, a twinkle in her eyes. "No worries, I needed to teach him some manners at some point or another anyway. You just gave me a good excuse to do so - really, I should be thanking you." She said, as she smiled at the Exo. She offered her open hand, expecting him to shake it. "I'm Erebus."

"Entity," he said as he took her hand, shaking it firmly, "that's an odd name, don't you think?"

Erebus grinned. "If I had a Mote of Light for every time someone said that, I'd be the Speaker." She laughed - a delightful sound to Entity's ears.

Entity nodded to her, and ran over to his Ghost, who was still unconscious. He tentatively prodded it experimentally, seeing if it would react. It didn't. Erebus came over and put a hand on the Exo's shoulder. Entity picked up his Ghost and regarded it, fearing the worst.

"Don't worry. It's not dead, just a bit banged up. Take it to the Speaker in the morning, right now; you need to get some sleep. Come on." She said as she walked over to the bunk-bed - the same bunk-bed that he'd been sitting at hardly ten minutes ago. He followed suit and found himself lying in the lower bunk. Within a minute, he was sound asleep. So was Kyle, but he was on the floor, but _boy_ would he have a head-ache in the morning.

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"Wake up. Wake up. WAKE! UP!" shouted a loud voice at the entrance to the Living Hall. "Get your ass up, ladies! At this rate, even a Servitor could have killed you! Get up!". The encouragement came thick and fast, if you could call it encouragement.

The newly-risen Guardians leapt up and out of their beds, and as Entity stood up and began placing his clothing armour onto his frame, he knew that there would be plenty of wake-up calls just like this one in the future.

"Get ready and assemble in Battle-Simulation-Room-3!" The drill-sergeant at the door ordered - then, without another word, marched out of the room. Entity looked over at Erebus, who was standing next to him, and raised a quizzical eyebrow at her, as if asking _"Where's that?"_

She shook her head, unsure herself before turning to another Guardian who had been here for the past couple of weeks, and had presumably been to Battle-Simulation-Room-3 before. He answered that it was a couple of floors below the Living Hall, and that your Ghost would be able to guide you there if you got lost.

Entity took in a quick breath, realising that his Ghost was still inactive and that he needed to report to the Speaker in order to get it fixed. He quickly made his goodbyes to Erebus and started in the direction of the Speaker's Hall in the West Tower area, grabbing his weapon and inactive Ghost as he went. Kyle glared at him as he exited the room.

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"You really ought to be more careful, Guardian, Ghost's aren't exactly replaceable." The Speaker spoke in his soft, wise voice. Entity just shrugged and apologised. He sighed and, taking the Ghost into his hands, he began to murmur an incantation –presumably taught to him by the Traveller. He took in a deep breath and meditated for a few seconds, concentrating on the Ghost to re-awaken it. Suddenly, the Ghost began to hover in place before its blue 'eye' began to flicker and turn on. Entity looked at the Speaker, marvelling at his ability to perform such wonders, and then turned his attention back to his Ghost.

"Good to have you back." Entity said to it.

The Ghost looked at him for a second or two, probably trying to remember how it was suddenly in the Speaker's Hall, when it remembered being in the Living Hall not a few moments ago. In the end all it could say was;

"Good to be back - you've got some explaining to do." He chastised Entity, who merely nodded in a way that said _"We'll talk later"_. Entity looked to the Speaker, still at a loss for words.

"Thank you, sir. We should go."

"Of course, Guardian. Good luck." And with that he turned back to his charts and papers, silently dismissing the duo. Entity's Ghost floated back over to him.

"Come on, we need to get to training." The Ghost reminded him. Entity nodded and set off at a jog towards the Battle-Hall.

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"All right, Guardians, this-" the trainer gestured around him at the vast battleground, situated just outside the City's outer walls "-is where you're going to be training most of the time. So get used to it."

The assembled Guardians, including Entity and Erebus, looked around in awe – especially Erebus; she had told Entity that the technology of the Traveller was something of a marvel to her. Entity couldn't say that he felt the same – sure, he thought the scenery was pretty, but he was already noting the best places to hunker down and confirm some kills, as well as tight corners and choke points that may cause him trouble. He also made a mental note of who looked the most intimidating and posed more of a threat to him. There were some larger combatants that looked to be set for the position of Titan, and also some others that looked as if they could be Warlocks. He knew he'd have to keep a look out for Erebus, he knew what she could do from the demonstration on Kyle she gave last night.

"Okay, Guardians. You'll be put into teams of two, so pair up. The match starts in precisely two minutes. At that point, you and your team-mate will be transported to an area of the map. The timer will begin and after twenty minutes, a team will be declared the winners based on their score – or until all other teams are eliminated. Got it?" the drill-sergeant asked the crowd of roughly twenty. He received a unanimous 'yes' in reply.

"Good," he said, "pair up. Your time starts now."

Entity looked around him, he could already see people dispersing and pairing up. Some were thinking strategically, like the Warlocks, pairing themselves up with Titans to soak up most of the damage for them whilst others just paired up with their friends.

He searched the crowd, but didn't see anyone to pair up with. Then suddenly, some of the pairs began to trans-mat and disappear in a bluish glow until there were only around six people left. They, like Entity, had no-one to pair up with and so had to arrange themselves with whoever was left. Then, Entity saw a familiar face in the group of stragglers; Erebus. Entity strode over to her.

"Looks as if nobody wants to mess with the girl who put Kyle on the floor." Entity chuckled as he spoke. Erebus regarded him for a moment, and then sighed.

"Hey, shut up, you're not so popular yourself!" she retorted. Entity held up his hands in mock surrender, chuckling still. He stopped laughing then nodded to Erebus. She returned the gesture. The next thing he knew, Entity had been engulfed by a blue haze with Erebus beside him. He felt as if he'd never be able to get used to the sensation of falling that the trans-mat brought on, no matter how many times he did it.

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"Recruits, prepare for game start. Remember; resurrections are not permitted in this game, so no reviving. If you're downed in battle, you stay down! Countdown begins; 5, 4-"

Entity looked over at Erebus, who looked at him; rifle in hands, and nodded. Entity returned the gesture and hoisted his own Scout-Rifle to his shoulder.

"-3, 2, 1! Begin!"

Entity and Erebus set off at a sprint, her human legs keeping pace with the Exo's speed quite well. They ran towards the centre of the arena and scanned their surroundings. It was quiet, no shots had been fired yet. Suddenly;

Gunfire, off to their left.

The duo whipped around to face the source of the noise, but couldn't see anything through the ruined bricks walls that were scattered around the battlefield. Moments later, the gunfire stopped, accompanied by the dying groan of a fallen Guardian. This made the pair grip their weapons tighter, not out of fear, but out of a sense that things were about to get a little… _hectic_.

As if on cue, a pair of Guardians leapt out of cover and ran at Erebus, probably planning to gun her down with the beefy shotguns they were wielding.

"On your left!" he shouted calmly, so she didn't panic and spray bullets at them. Erebus kept her cool though and turned to face the oncoming berserkers. She fired straight – her aim was true, if a little unco-ordinated. Within seconds, the two shotgun wielding brutes had fallen. Erebus breathed a sigh of relief.

Entity smiled, but his satisfaction was soon squandered as they came under sniper fire, the brief engagement probably attracting his attention to them. In the end, it mattered little - Entity knew what to do.

Before he had been rudely awakened by the drill-sergeant he'd been able to access the Tower's smithing facilities. There, he'd been able to re-shape the Captain's Sword to something that better suited an all-round purpose. The metal, he had noticed, was an unknown element that had the density of titanium – making it nearly unbreakable, so he didn't have to worry about the weapon shattering half-way though a fight, like it had done when he'd faced the Fallen Captain. Instead, he'd managed to shape it down and carve into a machete, so he was able to wield it for hand-to-hand combat in those up-close-and-personal moments, or he was able to use it as an impromptu throwing-knife.

For this situation, he used its secondary purpose and he flung the blade in a deadly arc directly towards the sniper Guardian. The blade wheeled in mid-air twice before burying itself in the Guardians chest. A moment of disbelief surrounding the situation soon dissipated as the Guardian tumble off his perch, the sniper-rifle still in his hands. The body landed on the floor with a wet crunch and Entity jogged over to retrieve his blade.

Erebus simply stared at him, awe-struck.

"That was - oh my God, that was amazing! How did you do that?" she asked the Exo as she ran over to congratulate him on his dexterous display of skill. Entity simply shrugged, cryptic as ever. She looked at him accusingly but made no further exclamations.

"Well…" she mused, "…you're gonna have to teach me how to do that sometime." Erebus said in a commanding tone. Entity smiled, and then looked down at the Guardians carcass. The sniper rifle was still in its hands.

_To the victor go the spoils_; he thought as he reached for the weapon.

It was a simple Gozen-C, but it would suffice. Decided, Entity strapped the weapon across his back, its sling allowing for easy access at short notice. Erebus raised a questioning eyebrow, but said nothing. Instead, she simply motioned her head in a way that said; _'Come on'_.

The Exo followed her instruction and gripped his Scout-Rifle warily. No doubt their scuffle had attracted some unwanted attention from their opponents. It was time to move off.

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Around eight more minutes passed before the pair got involved in their next engagement, which was with a couple of Guardians who looked to resemble Warlocks. The engagement was brief; their opponents clearly didn't understand the concept of _not_ getting hit by bullets, so it was really just like shooting fish in a barrel. Erebus, however, had been injured by a Hand Cannon bullet and she was bleeding profusely. Blood was seeping out of the wound in her stomach, but she reassured the Exo that she felt perfectly fine.

However, walking was clearly tough for the Human woman. She lacked Entity's ability to be hit by bullets and not feel the pain it brought - an ability that he took for granted. Eventually, she decided that she could proceed no further, and she sat down behind an outcrop of rocks. She put her auto-rifle in her lap and she glanced at her wrist-watch.

"Only… three more… minutes, then… we can go." She smiled bravely, but Entity could tell she was putting on a brave face. He knelt next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Listen," he said, looking her in the eye, "we're going to win this thing, okay? Together."

Erebus nodded, and looked into his optics with something the Exo couldn't identify – trust, maybe? The Exo was just about to help his companion up to take her to a more suitable position to stay in, when he heard a solitary voice call his name.

"Hey, Asshole!" it said.

Close enough.

Entity stood up and turned to the owner of the voice, who was aiming a Rocket Launcher at him, not twenty metres away. It was Kyle.

"Well 'good morning' to you too, Kyle" Entity spoke as he took a wary step towards the brute of a man. The black man looked at him with contempt, hate clouding his features.

"Yeah, this-" he tapped the front of the large Rocket Launcher "-is my way of saying good morning." Kyle grinned. "I'm a man of simple tastes, but making things go 'BOOM' is my speciality."

With that, Kyle fired at Entity, and the missile came rushing toward him.

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys, I hope you all had a great week. Here's my new chapter for you, I hope you like it. Please review, it means a hell of a lot to me. Anyway, I've decide to extend the OC Submission window so it stretches to next Friday. I'm going to start incorporating people's OC's in my next couple of chapters, as well as a guest appearance from Raz the Titan in one of my future chapters.**

**Stand firm, Guardians.**


	5. Chapter 5

_A Soldier of the Light_

_Chapter 5 – Graduation_

The Exo Warlock looked over to his human companion, who was crouched next to a stream, washing Fallen blood off of his hands. The Titan had an annoying habit of running into a fight and obliterating anything he saw. Most of the time, he did it with his bare hands. It wasn't a bad thing – after all, Titans _were_ the muscle behind most Fire-team operations. It was just annoying that he'd destroy _everything_, so the Warlock would never be able to examine any of the corpses – let alone interrogate a prisoner.

Ferrum-205 trudged over to his accomplice and knelt down next to him, slinging his Auto-Rifle over his shoulder.

"You know Josh, sometimes I get concerned about you." Ferrum said to his friend in a cheery voice. The Titan turned to face him, a quizzical eyebrow already climbing up his forehead.

"What do you mean?" he said. With a hint of a chuckle behind his deep, booming voice.

"You know that my research is important to me, right?"

Josh nodded.

"It's just… next time we come across a Fallen patrol, could you leave at least _one_ of the bodies intact?" Ferrum asked his associate. Again, Josh nodded, saying that he'd try to. Ferrum patted Josh on the back and stood up, unslinging his rifle as he did so.

"Come on," he said, his robotic voice serious now, "we're burning daylight. It'll be dark in a couple of hours and you know what that means."

Josh shuddered beneath his armour, not because of the cold of the North Alaskan climate but because he knew that, after dark, Hive Thralls became much more ravenous and blood-thirsty. They became extra aggressive and could shred even the most heavily armoured Titan to pieces within seconds and devour the remains. They'd been known to occasionally consume Ghosts too, which meant that a fallen Guardian had no way of being revived. Josh stood up and followed his friend, in search of another Fallen patrol.

Ferrum had first been resurrected about two years ago, and since then he had strived to discover the purpose of his existence. He knew he was a Guardian, and so his obvious purpose was to battle the minions of the Darkness in the hopes of pushing back its influence and restore Light to the Solar System and maybe beyond. But he wanted to know what his _original_ purpose was – as an Exo. Most of his time was spent in the Tower's libraries as he gleaned what he could from its limited sources of information. From what he had gathered, Exo's had been built life-times ago as weapons in a long and all but forgotten war. They had primarily been used as tools, nothing more. To their creators, they were expendable – replaceable. Apparently, the war – nicknamed the 'Machine War' – had lasted for numerous decades. Then, near its apparent end – the details began to get a little hazy. Some records stated that a peace treaty had been agreed upon, and the humans had relinquished the Exo's from their armies, allowing them a place in society. Other reports said that the Exo's had united and fought back against their human masters, claiming victory for themselves. Others still, claimed that Exo's are just a kind of second skin, worn by the consciousness of deceased Humans. Whatever the reason for their existence, Ferrum was determined to find out what it was – no matter the cost.

In the past, other Warlocks had viewed his quest for knowledge as radical nonsense, an impossible task to accomplish. Ferrum had shrugged such opinions off like a Hunter removing his cloak. Other Guardians in the Tower, even the Cryptarchs, saw his mission as a fixation – an obsession. Ferrum had shrugged off these comments as well, just as easily. Eventually, he had successfully alienated everyone around him due to his pursuit of ancient knowledge until only one person remained – Josh.

Josh had met Ferrum in the Crucible, the Titan had admired the Warlock's cold and calculating approach to battle, eliminating the strongest first and then picking off the weaklings with ease. He'd even managed to best the Titan on the odd occasion, but ultimately he was still superior.

His armour was plain, but very strong – mirroring the Guardian's resolve. He was an animal when in battle, a savage beast obliterating any in his path. No adversary stood a chance of seeing the sunrise again if they chose to fight him. He had single-handedly taken down multiple high-ranking targets within the Fallen hierarchy. He had defeated the House of Winter's Kell by himself and had bested Sepiks Prime, the Prime Servitor for the House of Devils; with only minimal help from a Hunter he had met on his way to face the Servitor.

Ferrum and Josh had accompanied each other on multiple missions, and they _always_ met with success.

Ferrum then spotted another Fallen patrol, larger than the average group. It didn't matter – it just meant more things to kill.

"You're up." Ferrum said.

The Warlock looked over to his friend and nodded. The Titan returned the gesture and ran at the group head-on, his fists already crackling with lightning.

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Entity had just enough time to side-step the projectile, dodging what would have been a fatal blow. The missile flew past him, barely an inch between them. Without losing any momentum from the movement, Entity rolled and ran straight towards Kyle.

The Titan saw him coming and fired the second rocket out of two straight at Entity's head. With lightning-quick reactions, the Exo sprint-slid underneath the missile and placed the muzzle of his Scout-Rifle under Kyle's jaw in one swift movement.

To any bystander watching the scene, it would have appeared as though it were an effortless display of grace, only to be followed by a scene of gore as the top of Kyle's head ruptured as Entity's bullet shot through his skull. A fountain of blood and gore erupted from the human's cranium, brain-matter spattered on Entity's face and Kyle dropped to his knees, eyes still wide in shock.

He was dead before his face hit the ground.

Just as Kyle's Ghost appeared, a bell sounded, signalling the end of the exercise. The Drill-Sergeant came over to Entity, clapping slowly and purposefully.

"Guardian, that was one of the finest displays of skill from a novice I've ever seen, and I've been doing this for a while." He said in a hard voice that matched his rugged appearance.

"Thank you, sir." Entity replied.

"What's your name, son?"

"Entity."

The Drill-Sergeant looked at the Exo with pride, and then jerked a thumb towards Erebus.

"Take her to the medical wing and then report to the Mess Hall. Dismissed."

With that, the drill-sergeant moved off towards the jump-ships, waiting to transport the Guardians back to the Tower. Entity ran over to Erebus and lifted her in his arms, bridal-style. She looked at him with that curious expression again, then closed her eyes and passed out, going limp in the Exo's arms. Entity chuckled to himself and then made his way over to the waiting transports.

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_2 months later . . ._

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"Guardians, when you came here, you were inexperienced – unproven." The Speaker addressed the assembled crowd of roughly fifty Guardians. "Now, you have been born again, as Protectors, as Wardens, as wielders of the Light. With that power, comes a vow that you all must undertake - a promise." The Speaker produced a scroll of manuscript; on it was written a transcript that described the duties of a Guardian of the Last City. Simultaneously, all of the assembled recruits brought out their Ghost's, preparing to undertake the initiation.

"As Guardians, do you swear to uphold the values of the Light and conflict the Darkness?" The Speaker asked. The reply was spoken by every initiate present.

"We swear."

"Do you promise to protect the City, and all that for which it stands?"

"We promise."

"Do you insist to defend the Traveller, so that we may one day rise from the ashes – and emerge victorious?"

"We insist."

"Do you vow to commit your lives to safeguarding the freedom and survival of humanity?"

"We swear, we promise, we insist."

The Speaker rolled up the parchment and replaced it back into the folds of his clothes. Suddenly, the Ghost of every initiate pulsated with a green light, but then quickly returned to their natural blue glow.

"Then, I pronounce you as Soldiers of the Light – as Guardians!"

A cheer went up from the assembled group of newly initiated Guardians.

Over the next hour or so, the Speaker himself handed out the gear to every individual Guardian. The gear they each received represented the Guardian Class they had been inducted into. When he came to Entity, the Speaker firmly shook the Exo's hand and handed him his armour. It was a finely crafted set of Dust-Walker armour, except for the helmet, which was an Argus Deimatic 1.3R1. Entity looked at the armour with prying eyes, eager to put it on and fight the Darkness.

Then he noticed something, there was no armour piece that would cover his arms or hands. Entity looked to the Speaker, who merely nodded, understanding the issue. It was then that he called forth another Hunter, who came to stand at his side and had an object wrapped in a Hunter's cloak in his hands. The Hunter was clearly a veteran Guardian, judging from the numerous scratches on his armour, as well as the scars that ran across portions of his face. The Speaker explained;

"Entity, you have shown great skill and talent in these recent months, and the Vanguard has noticed. When I was notified of your aptitude for combat, I instructed Kane here-", he gestured towards the veteran Hunter, "-to explore the deepest depths of Venus – to seek out a place where a team of Guardians discovered an ancient rock formation that contained the remains of an Ahamkara."

Mention of the extinct race of intelligent creatures piqued Entity's interest, and he paid closer attention.

"He brought back the remains and now, seeing as you're a Guardian, I feel it is the right time to give you this."

Kane handed over the parcel to the Exo and Entity went to unwrap it and discover what was inside. But the Speaker put a hand on his shoulder and Entity paused, looking to the man.

"Patience, Guardian. Wait until you're alone. The contents of this parcel are yours now, even the cloak. However, what is inside may cause others to become jealous of such a gift." The Speaker's soft tones stayed Entity's eagerness to discover the contents of the package, if only for now. Entity nodded understandingly. The Speaker returned the motion and continued onto the next Guardian.

Entity turned to Erebus, who beamed at him with that beautiful grin of hers. She hugged him tightly and he wrapped his spare metallic arm around her torso, the other was holding the parcel.

"We did it!" she exclaimed, "We're finally Guardians!"

Erebus broke from the embrace and grinned at him once more, she then looked at the mysterious package he was holding. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's that?" she asked. Entity only shrugged in reply. She shook her head as an idea struck her.

"We should celebrate!" Erebus suggested. Entity looked at her with mild concern.

"You know that I don't like to go to any of those stupid night-clubs. They're the perfect place to get robbed." Entity replied, his contempt for her idea obvious in his voice. She shook her head at him.

"No, of course not. Tonight's too special to waste at a silly night-club!"

"Then what do you propose?" he asked.

"I was thinking that we could go out on a patrol tonight. You know, seeing as we're Guardians now. Come on, it'll be fun!" Erebus pleaded to Entity, who mused over the suggestion in his head.

"All right, let's do it." He said, coming to a decision.

Erebus looked at him in surprise; Entity almost never did things like this. She wrapped him into another tight hug, and then started to jog towards the Living Hall.

"Come on!" she shouted to him, "Get your stuff together and meet me in the hangar when you're ready!"

"Wait!" Entity shouted after her, but she was gone. Sighing, he started towards the Living Hall to equip his armour and uncover the contents of the parcel.

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After removing the apparel he had been resurrected in, he strapped on the shoulder-guards and pulled on his boots. Then, he fitted his chest-piece onto his torso and put his helmet to one side.

Then, he unwrapped the parcel.

The cloak was a beautiful design. The material felt like linen, but Entity soon realised that it was much tougher than that. It was a Red Eclipse design, so it was fitted with a communication device on the left-shoulder area. But the main attraction was what the cloak itself had contained.

It was the spine vertebrae of a young Ahamkara.

Each vertebra was very well preserved and nicely fitted onto the cloth it had been attached to. A skull occupied the shoulder of the sleeve and the other sleeve was decorated with armour and metal. Entity felt gratified that the Speaker had gifted him with such a rare present; he would have to thank him when he next got the chance. But right now, he had a date to keep with a certain Warlock.

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The Fallen Captain looked across the timeworn junkyard of the Mothyards in Old Russia through the scope of her wire-rifle. The weapon had been upgraded by the House's Gunsmith and had received a larger heat-dispersion system, as well as a liquid coolant tube linking directly into the barrel. Both of these upgrades helped to lower the charge time between her shots, allowing her to fire faster. The rifle had also received a more advanced scope, as well as a larger magazine. In other words, her weapon kicked some serious ass.

Vixera Naa'kad was alone on the ridge, so she took a moment to herself to relax and went over her version of events leading up to how she'd gotten to where she was right now.

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It had all started about two years ago, when she used to be a Baroness – a good one at that too. She had sworn allegiance to the House of Devils when she was only a young woman, but she had quickly risen through the ranks to become a Captain. She had ferocity un-paralleled by many others in her House, and her strength and natural talent in battle soon gave her cause to the rank of Baroness – one of the very first in the history of the Fallen House. She had been on course to succeed the Kell one day too.

Then _it_ had happened.

It was an important mission, at least to the Kell. She didn't find out why until later, it wasn't important. All she had wanted to do was impress her Kell so he would name her his successor when he was on death-bed. But this mission would change _everything._

It had long been established in the House that she was an expert marksman with the Wire Rifle. A trait that many other Captains and Barons lacked, and so it naturally fell to her to provide sniper over-watch on a meeting between her House, the Devils, and another, the House of Ransack. The meeting was supposed to be a simple trade. The Ransack were in desperate need of Ether, the life-force of the Fallen, as many of their Servitors (who produced the vital material) had been eliminated. In exchange, they would give the Devils a small portion of their territory. Vixera was only there if things went awry.

But the representatives of Ransack were greedy, and they disagreed on the amount of Ether they received, saying that it wasn't enough to sustain them. In reality, it was plenty enough to feed a hundred soldiers for at least two months. But alas, the representatives of Ransack had decided that if the Devils wouldn't give them what they so _desperately_ needed, then they would take what they required by force.

It had all happened so fast, half of the Devils representatives were cut down in moments, and the rest of them didn't last much longer. Vixera had been unable to do anything except watch in rage as the representatives of Ransack desecrated the Devils corpses by extracting all of the Ether they contained within their bodies.

It would only be hours later that she would discover why the Kell had given her - the best sniper of the entire House - such an important duty.

The Kell's own son was among the dead of the representatives.

It hadn't mattered how much Vixera had apologised, because of her failure to protect his son, the Kell had exiled Vixera from the House she had grown up in and had banished her, threatening death if she ever tried to return.

She had walked aimlessly across Old Russia for months, eventually making her way to a place the humans called 'Moscow'. There, she had been found by a scouting party of members of a different House - a House that she was inducted into not three weeks later.

The House of Shadows.

They were a House dedicated to expanding their territory across all of Russia using guerrilla tactics and employing such masterfully executed stealth manoeuvres that they rivalled the Hunter Guardians. And their Kell was a wise (if ruthless) leader. He had evidently seen her talent and skill in battle and soon she had risen to the rank of Captain, though she was better than most due to her previous title as Baroness.

She had quickly mastered the arts of stealth-fighting and Vixera often lead a small group of Vandals into hostile environments, frequently to assassinate a high-ranking official in another House.

Then one day, another disaster occurred.

It had been a routine mission, get in, kill the target, and get out. Simple, but by no means was it easy.

They had made their way into the enemy territory and had eliminated the target; a Baron of the House of Jewels. But when they had attempted to escape, they were ambushed by over two dozen Stealth Vandals. They were led by the very same Baron they had been assigned to eliminate. As it turned out, the House of Jewels had taken notice of the recent attacks on the different Houses of Old Russia and had employed body-doubles in order to confuse and then eradicate the would-be assassins. The 'Baron' that Vixera and her team had killed had actually been a regular Captain in the armour and colours of a Baron.

Then, without a moment's hesitation, the Stealth Vandals had attacked the six-man squad. It had been a bloodbath. Vixera had only survived because of her combat skills. Slashing left and right, she had killed the nine Vandals that her team had been unable to kill themselves before they too had been cut down. In the end, she was also able to eliminate the actual Baron too. He had been a weak opponent; he had only risen to the rank of Baron due to bribery and cunning. She had killed him in cold blood, claiming it as fair revenge for losing her team, it was vengeance.

An eye for an eye.

But she had been heavily wounded, and Vixera had managed to make it to a wayward cave. There, she had lain down on a rocky outcrop, bleeding out and waiting for death to claim her with its icy, fateful grip. She had slipped into unconsciousness, expecting to die in peace.

But the fates had had other ideas, and she had awoken to find a male Warlock leaning over her, tending to her wounds. At first, she had tried to fight back, but she soon realised that she was unable to move her body.

"Hey, relax. It's just an anaesthetic." The Warlock had said, noticing her grunts of effort. "Wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea, now would we?"

She had absolutely no clue what he was saying, but she could tell that he was trying to help her. So she had let him continue. Over the next couple of days, whilst he was tending to her wounds, his Ghost had been able to set up a rudimentary translator. Vixera discovered that he had been on a similar mission to her, as he had been out to kill the very same Baron that she had been ordered to eliminate. He had said that he was just coming over the ridge when he had seen the ambush take place. As he had waited to see who would win the engagement, he had said that he was amazed by Vixera's fighting ability and that he wasn't too surprised that she had emerged triumphant. When he saw her limping into the cave, he had known that he just _had _to help her.

So he'd made his way over to her, only to find Vixera passed out on the rocks, her ethereal white blood pouring from her wounds. So he did the only right thing he knew to do, he wasn't just going to kill her – defenceless as she was. And so he had tended to her wounds, and then Vixera woke up. She knew the rest.

Despite being very thankful to the unexpectedly kind Warlock, she had remained stoic throughout the period of time they were around each other. She had not yelped out in pain whenever he tended to a wound with his magical influences, but she had not thanked him verbally either. It was only when she was able to stand and leave that she actually communicated with him.

"Graticas viix." Vixera had muttered before quickly scarpering.

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She would never have let anyone in her House know it, but she was searching for other Guardians to try to communicate their similarities – Fallen and Guardian. They both wanted to protect their quarry; whilst the Guardians valiantly protected their dying god, the Fallen defended their Kell by any means necessary.

And maybe, just _maybe_, they would realise it too.

So, to achieve her aims, she was out here – searching the wastelands. When she wasn't on assassination missions, or studying the human's language, she was scanning the wilderness – waiting, _hoping_ - that she would find a team of Guardians that would hear her out.

It was then that she spotted something on the horizon, a pair of Guardians – a female Human Warlock and a male Exo Hunter.

Satisfied with her findings, Vixera slung her upgraded Wire Rifle across her back and scaled her way down the sheer cliff-face. The abundance of arms she had made climbing much easier for her.

"Okay, here goes nothing…" Vixera said to no-one in particular, and made her way over to the pair of Guardians.

**Author's Note:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm really sorry that it was a little bit late, but I'll try to update as soon as I can.**

**Also, OC Submissions are now closed, but you can always PM me if you need to give an OC and you missed the window.**

**I need to give character ownership to:**

**deltafrost – Josh**

**C. – Ferrum-205**

**RC927 - Vixera**

**Also, I thought that I ought to let you know that I have an Xbox LIVE account. My Gamertag is:**

**RMattieboy216**

**If anyone wants to contact me, do it with that - or you can always PM me. I'm playing Destiny quite a lot, so if anyone would want to join me for a game or two, send me a friend request.**

**Stand firm, Guardians.**


	6. Chapter 6

_A Soldier of the Light_

_Chapter 6 – _

After two months of searching, Ferrum had finally been able to locate the location of the headquarters for the House of Devils. It had taken a while, but Josh had eventually managed to limit his wrath and left a Dreg of the House alive. In the hours following the capture of the lowly Dreg, Ferrum had successfully managed to interrogate the Fallen to tell him his House's co-ordinates. The Dreg had been disposed of, and the duo had travelled to Old Russia, to a place that was covered in carpet of sunlight. The landscape that stretched before them was barren and desolate, seeming to harbour nothing but the promise of death to the unprepared. Luckily for them, both Ferrum and Josh were ready for the challenges that they would face together. It was at this destination that Ferrum hoped to find a strong Fallen Captain to examine; it wouldn't matter if it were alive, so long as it was still.

Ferrum was wielding his trusty Pulse-Rifle and Fusion Rifle, whilst Josh possessed his Shotgun and Auto-Rifle. Both of the Guardians had been hiking through the landscape when they had seen something… odd, to say the least.

Ferrum could only describe the situation in front of him as astonishing; a Fallen Captain was talking to a pair of Guardians. Ferrum looked over to his comrade, who had also seen the spectacle, and nodded. Josh returned the gesture and the pair began to stalk their way over to the trio of warriors.

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20 minutes earlier…

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Entity and Erebus had been walking beside each other, chatting and laughing, rejoicing in their newfound roles as Guardians. They were idly chatting between themselves and teasing each other. As always, Entity landed shots with his new Allowance_VC4 Sniper-Rifle. And, as always, Erebus gawp in awe as he would take down patrols of Fallen without so much as reloading.

But Entity wasn't one to gloat, and he didn't boast about how much better he was at shooting than Erebus was, even though he easily could have. For he knew that she was much better at other things than he was, for example; she was able to accurately aim most Heavy Weapons, no matter their recoil or weight. It was a surprising trait, especially considering Erebus' petite size and build. But it nothing more than tit-for-tat, and they both knew that they complemented each other skills beautifully.

They were still chatting and being jovial when Entity saw something in the distance that caught his attention. Sensing that something was wrong, he suddenly became serious and indicated for Erebus to stop and crouch down. As she did so, he put the scope of his Sniper-rifle to his 'eye' and tried to make out the source of his apprehension.

It was a Fallen Captain, coming straight towards them. What Entity found strange though, was the fact that the alien was completely alone, more than that, it seemed to have holstered its weapon, so he hesitated to fire at the creature.

Instead, he strapped his own weapon to his back and simply waited for the Fallen Captain to approach them, though he had his hand resting on the grip of the Hand-Cannon that was strapped to the base of his back. His other hand was hidden on the hilt of the machete that he had claimed from the Fallen Captain that he had bested after his first resurrection. Entity had lovingly named the weapon 'Last-Resort' and he had also christened the Hand-Cannon as 'Arbiter', as it had the ultimate say-so of which alien died first in a close-quarters battle.

"I wouldn't go any further if I were you." Entity called over to the approaching Captain. From its build and the shape of its body, Entity could tell that it was a female. The Fallen Captain stopped in her tracks and regarded Entity with cold eyes.

"I come in peace, Guardian. I mean you no harm, either of you." she replied. Entity was very surprised at the Captain's ability to speak his language, but he made sure not to show it as it would make him look weak and unprepared in front of the enemy. Erebus looked the alien from head to toe.

"Who are you?" Erebus asked, the air was pregnant with tension.

"My name is Vixera Naa'kad, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Vixera replied, doing her best to distil the rigidity surrounding the situation. Erebus knitted her brow together in thought, not sure what to make of this alien.

"I'm Entity, this is Erebus." he said with gestures to indicate who was who. "Why are talking to us like this? Don't Fallen hate the Guardians?"

Vixera let out a chuckle; it was a dry, raspy sound that sounded guttural and mechanical.

"It is true, my species has no love of yours, but neither does yours have any affection for to why I'm here – well, it's a long story-" she began, but Entity cut her off.

"We have time."

"No, Guardian, we do not. In a short while, my subordinates will no doubt come looking for me. I have to make this brief, for I do not have the luxury of time for petty and idle chit-chat." Vixera spat, with a hint of venom in her voice. Entity's grip tightened on 'Arbiter'.

"Well then, you'd best get talking." Entity spoke, his electronic voice hardening. Vixera glared at him, but she soon relaxed and began to speak.

"I am here to… come to an understanding. I belong to the House of Shadows, and before I truly saw the Guardians capacity for care and attention to the wounded, I regarded them as the enemy." Vixera explained. "It was only after my first encounter with a trusting and kind Warlock that I began to see the likeness – the _similarities_ - between our two species."

Entity couldn't help but become intrigued by what Vixera was saying.

"You see, Guardians, our two species could come to and understanding, a truce. I believe that with the right mind-set and the correct goals, our factions could live in peace."

Erebus gasped almost inaudibly, Entity could understand why. Peace between the Fallen and Humanity? In his opinion, it would be sooner to see the Cabal sprout wings and fly.

"We are not so different, as your dying god would have you imagine. In fact, it is more accurate to say that we have much more in common than you think." Vixera said. She looked around hesitantly, looking in all directions cautiously, as if searching for some unseen danger.

"Go on." Entity said, pressing Vixera to continue her concept about a possible accordance. But the Fallen Captain shook her head.

"Not here, even as we speak I sense two more of your kind watching our exchange with prying eyes." Vixera thought for a moment, deciding on what to do. Suddenly, she produced a holo-pad, a small, round device that displayed a location near the Wall.

"Meet me here in two days' time, there is much to discuss." Vixera commanded - her tone serious and rushed. Entity brought out his Ghost who scanned the holo-pad with a blue light. Once the ghost had collected the co-ordinates for the meeting place, Vixera bid her farewells and scarpered into the landscape of the Mothyards, fading into the backdrop of Old Russia like a whisper in the night – unseen, unheard.

No sooner had Vixera disappeared did another pair of Guardians take her place. One was a burly looking Titan, his Shotgun in hand, anticipating the moment where he could strike. The other was a Warlock, who crossed over to Erebus and Entity with a stormy face.

"Where is it?" the Warlock nearly shouted at the pair. He was an Exo, like Entity, but unlike him, he had almost no control of his emotions. Erebus played dumb.

"What do you mean?" she replied, a puzzled look on her pretty face.

"That Captain, where'd it go? Don't play coy with me. It was here a second ago." the Warlock seemed to be getting angrier, so Entity decided to come clean before he'd have to fight the Warlock.

"Alright, there was a Captain here, you're right." Entity said - dissatisfied that he couldn't keep the exchange between Vixera as the private matter it had intended to be. The Warlock seemed to calm down as his rage died down within him.

"I'm confused. If there was a Fallen here, then why didn't you kill it?"

"We didn't need to. She didn't mean us any harm." Entity replied. The Warlock looked between the two Guardians suspiciously.

"Very well," Suddenly, his features beamed with a smile, though Entity could see the malice behind it. "I'm Ferrum, this is Josh." The large Titan behind him waved, but said nothing, instead opting to scan the horizon for any sign of Vixera or another Fallen patrol.

"Entity. This is Erebus." Entity replied, taking the Exo's outthrust hand and shaking it firmly. He wasn't sure what to think about this Exo, he seemed to mean well but he had a funny way of expressing his intentions. An idea came to Entity's mind.

"That Captain… what did you want with her?" Entity asked, narrowing his eyes at Ferrum.

As if in reply, the Exo sighed and holstered his weapon.

"It all started a long time ago, about two years I think." Ferrum began, "After I was resurrected by my Ghost I wanted to find out what my purpose was."

"What do you mean?" Erebus asked, intrigued to hear the Exo's story.

"My purpose, not as a Guardian, but as an Exo," Ferrum said quietly as he looked towards the Hunter opposite him. Entity remained stoic. "I want to find out _why_ we were created Entity. I've spent most of my time in the Tower, gleaning what I can from the libraries resources, but there's only so much I can learn before I have to get my hands dirty."

For some reason, Entity thought that 'dirty' didn't just mean getting out into the field and he shuddered at the thought.

"You see, I have a theory. The Fallen are rumoured to have once been blessed by the Light of the Traveller when they were a more honourable race, but that all changed when they committed some… heinous act. An action that perturbed the Traveller _so much_, that it left the Fallen and drifted across to our Solar System. That is how the Fallen earned their namesake." Entity nodded to Ferrum, he'd heard of such rumours before. "Well, allegedly - although different sources argue over this - we Exo were created _after_ the Traveller came to Earth. My theory is that the Fallen still have some of the Traveller's influence in them. Think about it, they can build great technologies that resemble the Traveller's appearance. Most of their forces are here, on Earth – why?"

The question hung in the air. Neither Entity nor Erebus knew what to make of the suggestion.

"The Traveller's light is what powers us, Entity – the Exo, the gears and circuits and core processors are kept in working order because of the Traveller's influence. And I believe that the power it gave to us is similar to the power it gave to the Fallen, maybe not in the same way, as the Fallen are not machines. It would seem that the Fallen were once a race so majestic that the very imagination of them would leave us awe-struck. A great pain now strikes me as I look upon them as our enemies. Their very name, the 'Fallen', gives the impression that they once shared our faith – hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. The Fallen were bestowed the Light, by the Traveller or some other form of Light that we may not recognise. It may not have been _our_ Traveller, but the similarities between the Fallen society and ours are based on reverence, the Servitor's and the Traveller respectively, do not seem to be mere coincidence. Granted, the position that the Fallen were originally visited by the Light because the Traveller and the Servitor's share the same geometric shape is a poor argument if left unattended. I must examine the religious and technological overtones to more efficiently explain this possibility. To better identify the Fallen Servitor's with our Traveller, I present the case; Servitor's were created _after _the Fallen were directly influenced by the technology brought on by the Traveller's arrival, correlating to Humanity's Golden Age, the various forms of technology built, produced and perfected all stem directly from the influence of the Traveller. The Fallen would mimic the production of the Traveller through their Servitor's – not only influenced by a dogmatic set of principles, but also a deep reverence for something with an unkempt power. Servitors are living relics of the once mighty Fallen civilisation. Packed with ultra-sophisticated machinery, they process matter and energy into the vital Ether that the Fallen depend on for life. In battle, they support the Fallen with defensive systems and their own powerful energy weapons. Outside, they anchor the Fallen comms and provide vital technological intel. Servitors have complex relationships with each other and with their Fallen crews. Servitors are attached to a Prime, a massive Servitor which exists in an unclear symbiosis with the Fallen Archon Priest. The Fallen are not from this system, this much is assured. They may not even be from this galaxy, but they are undoubtedly chasing the remnants of the Traveller and those that stand with it. We have always assumed that they wish to cause us harm, and while it is true that they do kill many Guardians, perhaps that is not the reason they pursue it; to _destroy_ it."

Entity looked over to Erebus and then back to Ferrum, who concluded his lecture with an astonishing theory.

"What if they want to be forgiven by the Traveller?"

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_2 days later…_

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Long before the Collapse, Humanity had been thrust into a Golden Age, forged by the Traveller's blessed Light that it bestowed upon them. Colony ships, much like the ones in the Cosmodrome, had been filled with passengers and had rocketed towards the other planets of the Solar System. Venus, Mars, Mercury and the Moon had all been subject to the Terra-formers that made these planets new homes for Humanity. But these times did not last. When the Darkness came, it annihilated all but the smallest minority of Humans. After such a catastrophic event, the remnants of what was left of Humanity had gathered directly under the Traveller, hoping against the odds that it would one day reawaken and reboot them into a better time, granting them the ability o repel the Darkness and reclaim the Solar System.

_And they were still waiting, though their patience never seemed to come to the end of its infinitely long tether_; Vixera thought to herself, as she looked out over the shattered ruins of the seven-storey high wall that had once protected the Cosmodrome against the intangible - and unstoppable - force of the Darkness. Now it was nothing but a shell of its former self. It was ironic really, it was as if this wall somehow symbolised Humanity; both were husks of their former selves, clinging to the connection of the past that would ultimately fail and break down over time.

Vixera was crouching down in the tall grass of the outskirts of the territory beyond the Wall. The wild had reclaimed this land, it was a landscape of turmoil and decadence. It was here that the creatures of the Earth now ruled, though none of even the most ferocious animals could stand up to Vixera.

Suddenly, Vixera saw a blip on her radar, approaching at a steady pace. It was coming directly towards her. She stood up, presuming it would be the Guardians she had met just a couple of days beforehand. Instead, she was greeted with the image of another Fallen Captain. He was an Elder Captain, and it showed. The scars and scratches that occupied his armour told the stories of countless battles he had fought in. His shock-spear was gripped lazily in his right hand, but Vixera knew that he would be able to cut her down with the flick of his wrist, no matter how good she was with her own blades. As he approached her, Vixera felt her fists tighten due to the proximity of his presence. She didn't like him, not one bit.

"Hello Sorric. Still taking blood money from hunting your own kin, I see." Vixera spat with measurable malice in her voice. The Elder Captain glared at her.

"It's none of your concern, but don't worry, you needn't soil yourself – I am not here to kill you." Sorric replied, his rumbling voice akin to the sound of the rusty machinery that the Cosmodrome was littered with. Vixera let out a low growl, she knew she was no match for him, but she would not hesitate to blow his head clean off if she got the chance.

"What do you want, Sorric? Why are you here?" she asked, suspicion clear in her tone. Sorric huffed.

"Nothing you need concern yourself with, little one, it is none of your concern. Besides, what would you care if I targeted the House of Devils for you?" he laughed.

"I would not partake in paying such vile vermin as you to do my dirty work for me. I am quite capable of handling those bastards myself." Vixera spoke in a threatening tone. "You are nothing more than a bounty hunter, living off the payment of others to do their dirty work. You are a filthy cur!"

Sorric didn't react to her insult, but his reply carried malice to it.

"I ought to cut you down for insulting someone as powerful as me, but I won't, I am no monster." Sorric growled menacingly. "But you'd do well to remember that I am still a member of the House of Venom, and I would not hesitate to slit your throat for nothing more than a few scraps of Ether." And with that, he left without another word. And Vixera was left on her own again.

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_2 hours later…_

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Entity and his newly formed Fire-team approached the area where Vixera had specified to meet her at. The Fire-team was composed of himself - the elected leader of the group, Erebus – the medic of the group, Josh – the quiet, but admittedly strongest member of the group, and Ferrum – the Void-Walker obsessed with discovering his true purpose, as well as cleverest of the rag-tag team.

Entity held up his fist, signalling the group to stop. He looked around, scanning the area for signs of the Fallen Captain. He knew that she was a master of stealth, and wasn't too surprised when she appeared next to him without being detected by any member of the group.

"Greetings, Guardians. I was unaware that so many of you would be present. It is no matter; I look forward to convincing you all of the similarities our species share. I am here to accord a truce between our species. For too long our two species have been at odds, constantly fighting battles that will make no difference to either of our futures. This is why I brought you all here, to talk and, with luck, arrange a new future between our two races." Vixera's voice was filled with hope and optimism, a trait that was sorely lacked by most of today's Guardians – let alone the Fallen. Ferrum was the first to speak.

"Vixera, we appreciate the sentiment, but I'm not sure that it will even be possible for our kind to spend five minutes in your presence without reaching for some kind of weapon, let alone make peace with the fallen. It's absurd!"

"I admit - Ferrum has a point, Vixera. Our species haven't been the best of friends" Erebus said quietly. Entity continued to stare at Vixera, her armour glistening in the sunlight and her cape billowing in the light breeze. She was visually appealing, even to the Exo's eyes. Entity rationalised that she must have a hard time beating away other Fallen that would wish to be her suitor.

An idea came to him.

"What if we could take you to the City? To the Speaker? I know that he'd gladly convene a meeting with you. He of all people should know that Humanity could use all the allies it can get."

Safe to say, the other members of his Fire-team were initially shocked by Entity's suggestion. But one by one, they nodded their heads, agreeing that a peaceful gathering may benefit the both of their respective races.

All the while, Vixera merely looked at the Exo, a suspicious glare searching his inanimate features for some sign of deceit. Then, after a minute of silently musing over the suggestion, she nodded slowly.

"Yes. You are correct, Guardian. A peaceful conference would be preferred, but I feel I must inform you that I do not speak for the rest of my House, let alone the rest of my race."

"It's decided then. Come with me, Vixera, we have important matters to attend to." Entity said, pleased with himself.

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**Hey guys, I really hope you liked this update. Thanks again to the people that submitted their OC's. I just need to include another person in addition the ever-growing list of characters.**

**Sorric – Razzack**

**That's everything. I hope you have a great week and I'll see you all next Friday.**

**Stand firm, Guardians.**


	7. Chapter 7

A Soldier of the Light

Chapter 7

Sorric looked over the deserted landscape of Old Russia, its derelict state proved inhospitable to some – and deadly to many. But it was home, and Sorric relished in it. The Fallen were able to thrive on most lands due to their uncanny ability to adapt. It was a trait that had proved useful on many of Sorric's hunts.

He was a Fallen Elder Captain, one of the best warriors to ever exist. Due to his skill with his weapon of choice, the shock-spear, he was sought after by many.

It was true that he swore allegiance to the House of Venom, but that didn't stop him from taking on contracts from other Fallen Houses to eliminate targets. He was a hit-man, he had no remorse and no guilt. So long as they paid in full for his services, he would take a job from anybody – and he meant anybody. He was a cold-blooded killer, but he wasn't an assassin – no, that title belonged to Vixera, it was what she insisted on being called.

His years of battling Guardians and other Houses had resulted in his armour becoming more and more scratched and beaten, but it was no worse for the wear. If anything, it helped to remind him that he had survived through so much – how could anything get the better of him now? Especially considering his experience and ruthless attitude to battle.

Sorric huffed to himself, already fed up of watching the sun set on the horizon. He was crouching, immersed in the tall grass surrounding him. It masked his position, and he stared at the descending sun, willing it to fall faster. As if his gaze alone would command the distant star.

Of course it didn't, and he huffed again. Sorric sat on his haunches, rationalising that he only had around an hour to wait before the barren land he looked out upon would be claimed by the night – then he would be able to strike.

He returned to musing over his circumstances.

He had sworn allegiance to the House of Venom at an early age, but had quickly risen through the ranks to become a Vandal and then a Captain. He had only achieved the rank of Elder Captain recently, and he wouldn't allow anyone to take his honour away from him.

As a member of the House of Venom, it was his duty to take on bounties from other Houses. The jobs they gave usually ordered a Venom group to strike against one of the rivals Houses of the House that hired them. It sometimes made for amusing contracts, every so often they'd be hired by one House to raid another, and then a month later, they'd be hired _by_ the House they struck to take revenge on the House who hired them in the first place.

In the end, it mattered little. As long as an employer had sufficient funds, no job was too big to handle. More often than not, it fell to Sorric to handle the more important jobs. The Barons of his House were too busy bickering amongst themselves to do anything productive, and the Kell of Venom was a pitiable - yet brutal – leader. Sorric reckoned that once he eventually became a Baron, he'd challenge the Kell to a battle of succession.

These fights decided who would decide the House's future. A challenger would confront the reigning champion, and a battle would ensue – always to the death. A reigning champion could not refuse a challenge; it was a sign of weakness. If the challenger managed to defeat the Kell, then they would succeed the late ruler until another challenger came and opposed them.

It was a vicious, repetitive cycle.

Sorric couldn't wait. It was only a matter of time before the Kell recognised his ability in combat and to lead troops into battle.

_Little would he realise that my promotion would be his last mistake;_ Sorric thought to himself malevolently.

The lone Elder Captain looked back up to the dying light of the twilight hour and waited patiently for the cover of darkness.

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Meanwhile, Entity and his Fire-team had arrived at the last City with Vixera in tow. She had accompanied Entity in his ship on the journey to the most sensitive point in the Guardian's system.

Much to the surprise of the Exo, Vixera had almost perfectly mimicked Entity's slack-jawed awe upon seeing the Traveller for the first time in all of its glory. His Ghost had enjoyed chastising the Fallen Captain on her mesmerised expression with an old Earth saying;

"What's wrong Vixera, cat got your tongue?"

Entity had only chuckled lightly whilst Vixera had given it a half-hearted slap on its single 'eye'. A few minutes went by before Entity approached the main hangar of the Tower, only to be greeted by the always welcoming voice of Amanda Holliday through the ship's on-board communicator.

"Fenrir-1, this is Tower Actual. We see you on our radar; please state your authorisation code or you will be fired upon. Over." The request demanded, crackling through static and white noise. Entity looked at his Ghost, who floated toward the ship's communicator and expanded into its rounded globe shape.

"Tower Actual, this is Fenrir-1, copy all. The code is Echo-Delta-Zulu-Alpha-Tango. Over."

A moment went by before the reply came.

"Copy, Fenrir-1, you are cleared for landing. Welcome back. Over and out."

With that, the transmission cut off and Entity's Ghost gently guided the ship into a vacant docking- bay. Only stopping to briefly trans-mat both Entity and the now cloaked Vixera onto the Tower's main platform. Only moments later did the other members of the Fire-team phase into existence, nodding to each other, the group set off in the direction of the Speaker's Hall.

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Ferrum looked over to the shimmering spot where the invisible Vixera walked calmly next to him. He knew that they were about to visit the most vital, and therefore most critical part of the Last City. It would be all but too easy for Vixera to launch a surprise attack on the Speaker and that there would be nothing that any of the Fire-team could do about it. Ferrum got the feeling that her intentions were honest, but that didn't stop him from worrying about what they were about to do. It wasn't that he didn't trust her; it was just that she hadn't proved the honesty of her intentions yet.

He kept his musings to himself though. If it came to it, he would gladly lay down his life for the Speaker – for any Guardian, at that.

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As the group approached the Speaker's Hall, Entity held up a hand for the crew to halt. It was a gentle movement, and they all followed the order. On his own, Entity made his way up the grand staircase.

Approaching the Speaker, Entity gave a small bow as the anonymous man in white robes looked over to him, the mask he constantly wore hiding his features.

"Greetings, Guardian. What brings you to me?" The Speaker asked the Exo.

"Well, it's something that we found in Old Russia. Myself and a small team of other Guardians came across something quite… extra-ordinary." He replied, the words coming out of his mouth quite unexpectedly. He was usually quite a quiet, secluded Hunter – never really conversing with others unless necessary. He didn't know why, but something about the mysterious man's soft, wise tones persuaded the words out of him.

"Go on." The Speaker said, intrigued.

"It's difficult to explain, sir. I think it would be easier to show you."

With that in mind, Entity called out to his group that were currently at the base of the grand staircase. As they emerged onto the raised platform, Entity noticed that there were only the three Guardians approaching, but his confusion was soon dismissed as he saw the tell-tale shimmering that let him know that Vixera was also present. Confident, Entity strode over to the Speaker and stood behind his right shoulder, keeping an eye on Vixera – just in case she tried anything funny. It wasn't that the Exo didn't trust the large, powerful, deadly, master-assassin Fallen Captain with years of experience and knowledge under her belt, it was a matter of security that he stood by the Speaker's side. Erebus stepped forward, gesturing to the shimmering, light-bending space that Vixera occupied.

"Good Speaker, may I present; Vixera – Captain of the Fallen House of Shadows."

As the Warlock gave Vixera's formal introduction, the Fallen Captain herself de-cloaked and appeared next to the trio of Guardians. She mimicked the slight bow that Entity had given only a minute beforehand, her graceful movement accompanied with her guttural speaking voice.

"A pleasure to meet you, Leader of Guardians." she said, as she came back out of the bow.

If the Speaker was surprised by the sudden entrance of the large Fallen, he didn't show it. Instead, he simply walked over to Vixera and looked at her with intrigue.

"Of course. The pleasure is all mine. I am glad to finally meet one of your kind without the need for violence."

"As am I." Vixera said as she shook hands with the Speaker. An awkward gesture to say the least, seeing as the female Captain had twice as many upper limbs as the human she was interacting with.

"Good Speaker, I am here to arrange a truce between our two species - an objective that would surely benefit both of our kinds."

The Speaker hummed his agreement. "You are right. Such an agreement would surely be a boon to our endeavour to banish the Darkness from our planets." The Speaker mused to himself. "And this truce, I assume it comes as a suggestion from your House's leader, your… Kell?"

At this, Vixera looked uncomfortable. Her four eyes flitted from the Speaker to Entity, and then back to the Speaker, who awaited confirmation from the Fallen Captain opposite him.

"I'm afraid that this proposition does come from my Kell. It comes directly from me and a couple of my closest lieutenants. I do not speak the rest of my House, let alone the rest of my race." Vixera said nervously, seemingly afraid that such information may perturb the Speaker from agreeing to any kind of accordance. Instead, the masked figure nodded.

"Hmm." he sounded in acknowledgement. "I see." He turned away from Vixera, looking out over the last City and over to the Traveller. Entity wondered if he was communing with the dying god in silent conversation. He pondered what it must be like to be able to communicate with such vast, raw power. In the end, he could not even begin to fathom what it must have felt like to share his consciousness with a deity.

The Speaker seemed to contemplate the information Vixera had given him for a few moments longer before turning back to face her.

"Before I give you my response, Vixera, I must admit that this is not the first time that a Fallen faction has attempted to reach some kind of agreement with the Guardian ranks. I doubt it will be the last either." Entity and the others were suitably shocked to hear this information. Vixera probably the most so.

"I hope that one day the Fallen race and Humanity will be able to live together in peace. Perhaps together we would be able to rebuild all that we have lost, Fallen and Guardians. I may not live to see it, but one day – and hopefully, one day soon – there will be harmony at last." The Speaker seemed to profess some kind of prophecy, some vision of the future.

"They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." The Speaker said to the assembled group, making individual eye-contact with each member of the ensemble of warriors. "And I see this as the first footstep of a brilliant voyage."

With that, the Speaker approached Vixera and offered his hand,

"As Speaker, commuter of the Traveller and Leader of the remnants of Humanity, I humbly accept your offer for peace."

Vixera nodded in appreciation and took his outstretched palm, shaking it firmly. Afterwards, Entity strode over to his squad and looked over to the Speaker. The secretive man then addressed the group of guardians as a whole.

"Guardians, your Fire-team has just attracted a new member." Vixera then looked at the enigmatic man in surprise, and then to her new squad. Eventually, she accepted her newfound role and joined her group.

"Guardians, take this-" said the Speaker, as he produced a handful of Vanguard Commendations "-and give them to your respective mentors. They should give you a reward for your efforts at securing peace. Do not worry, they will not question what actions granted you such gifts, but they will respond to them all the same."

With that, fire-team Fenrir departed in the direction of the Vanguard Gallery. Vixera activating her cloak as they descended the steps.

Entity looked over his group, studying each in turn.

Ferrum, the most intelligent and by far the most remorseless Guardian of the group. He was new to the group, but he was valued almost beyond measure. His cold and calculating approach to battle rather unnerved the Exo though.

He looked over to Josh, the Titan with a lust for bloodshed and the death of his enemies. He was the strong-silent type, his words were few, but whatever he said carried weight to it. It made him a valuable member to the group; his tactical knowledge of warfare was unparalleled.

Erebus. His first and greatest friend, he felt something else for the human woman too, but he didn't know what it was. It made no difference; she was a powerful Warlock – master of both the Voidwalker and Sunsinger variants. It made her the master of destruction _and_ healing in the group, quite the contrast – even for one as decisive and as single-minded as her.

He knew that he had somehow become the de-facto leader of Fenrir. He wasn't arrogant, but neither did he show any prevalent leadership skills a usual commander had in abundance. He was a master sniper, he knew that much, his ability with the long-rifle were unparalleled by most. He could hit targets over a mile away without breaking so much as a sweat. He knew he wasn't too shabby with 'Last-resort' or 'Arbiter' either.

Then over to the female Captain, there wasn't much to say about her. He didn't know who she was or how she fought. He knew that she was a master of stealth, and that she was a brilliant strategist of close-quarters combat. It showed on her armour and blades. Dents and scratches decorated the items, years of experience and knowledge written on them in blood.

He looked over Fenrir and he felt pride in his chest beginning to swell; his fire-team may yet just be revolutionary.

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The sun had set just under an hour ago. Sorric had left his hiding spot in the tall grass and proceeded to the base that a fragment of the House of Knights. It was there that he would find a secret meeting taking place. Well, not so secret, seeing as one of the Vandals of the House had been taken prisoner and had been interrogated in order to reveal the location of the assembly.

Not only had Sorric been able to learn the location of the meeting, but he had been told what kind of force to expect as well as what kind of High-value targets to eliminate. Sorric had thanked the Vandal for his services before slaying him cleanly. It had been helpful; it was the least it had deserved.

Sorric had proceeded to the derelict warehouse the three high-value Captains would be. He had waited until the cover of darkness and then infiltrated the warehouse as quietly as possible.

Using his shock-spear, Sorric had been able to eliminate most of the reinforcing Vandals and Dregs rather discreetly before making his move on the central room where the Captains were scheduled to be.

Now, Sorric took his time climbing up to the rafters of the warehouse in order to gain the advantage of height. He spotted the three HVT's below him and waited to see what they would talk about.

It took some time, the Captains started by discussing current troop positions and other trivial matters and issues. Eventually, they began to talk about the matter that Sorric had been paid half of his sum to listen in on and report back to the House of Years.

"Do you know where the cache is being kept?" asked one of the Captains. He was a burly looking and wielded a wire-rifle in his hands. Another Captain turned to reply to him, she was wielding a Shotgun in her hands.

"Of course. My troops have accessed its contents multiple times. Do not worry, the weapons there are reliable and well-stocked."

The last Captain merely huffed, two shock-swords hung by his sides.

"Enough of this. You know where the cache is, Ser'aa. Just tell us where it is so we may access its contents for ourselves. We have to trade them for Ether. You know that we're running low on supplies!" he shouted angrily.

The female Captain just looked at him. She wore a patronising look on her face.

"Jer'iah, you fool. That is not the plan. You know that we plan to empty the cache and give them to the House of Jewels. We must join them! The Knights are weak; our Kell is all but the feeblest of them all. Our House is done for!" Ser'aa shouted back at him, clearly annoyed at his loyalty to his Kell.

The wire-rifle wielding Captain turned to Jer'iah.

"Ser'aa is right. We must hand them over."

Jer'iah stayed quiet, not daring to talk back to the much larger Captain. Ser'aa placed a hand on each of her companions.

"The Cache is at co-ordinates 22-North, 36-East, segment Delta."

Sorric smiled beneath his helmet; that was half of his payment in the bag. Now for the second half.

Jumping down onto the trio, Sorric stuck his shock-spear through the ribs of the wire-rifle wielding Captain and ran through Ser'aa before she could react. The third Captain dodged Sorric's initial swipe, but was unable to avoid the blow that broke his knee-cap. He called for reinforcements, but none came.

"You're all alone, Jer'iah. Nobody will come to save you, nor will anyone be close enough to this location to hear your dying screams." Sorric growled at the injured and quite scared Captain.

Jer'iah reached for his swords, but was run through by Sorric's spear-head before he could draw his blades. The dying gurgle that accompanied the death of the Knight Captain was a fitting end for the Captain who had been loyal to his Kell until the end. Sorric respected him for that.

But _nobody_ would get in between him and his payment.

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**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry that this was a little on the late side, but I've been dry-heaving my meals back up for the past three days. I'll try to stay on schedule for next weekend, but my exams are looming, and I think that my grades will take priority over this story. But don't worry; I'll do my best to finish it before then.**

**Stand firm, Guardians.**


	8. Chapter 8

A Soldier of the Light

Chapter 8

The newly anointed fire-team Fenrir arrived at the Forgotten Shore in Old Russia about two hours after their new assemblage. Vixera had explained that she had to go to her Kell and apologise for being scarce these past few days, and that she would try to re-join the group as soon as possible.

Of course, Entity had not opposed this decision. He knew that it was tactically advantageous to have an agent on the inside. A little while ago, at the meeting with the Speaker, Vixera had told the group that some of her closer lieutenants knew of her philosophy of peace between races. Entity didn't know if they believed in the possibility of a better future between the Fallen and Guardian races. But he suppose that it would be ideal to meet them and see what they thought of the whole Vixera-siding-with-Humanity situation.

Entity's jump-ship came close to the surface of the desolate landscape, trans-matting said-Guardian and his Fallen compatriot before turning to go to Orbit, ready to await it's owner call should Entity require it. The pair walked along the coastal region of Old Russia, scanning their surroundings for any sign of Vixera's fellow House members. They were in their territory now, and it would be all but too easy to ambush the duo.

Entity looked around warily. They were here for the simple reason to make communication with Vixera's lieutenants, and – if possible – talk to the Kell of the House of Shadows.

Suddenly, a war cry broke the relative quiet the pair had been experiencing until then. It was a guttural, angry sound, not unlike the one that had sounded in the plane graveyard after Entity's first resurrection. Entity held up his rifle in the direction the cry had come from, but Vixera quickly stopped him.

"No! You mustn't. If you harm any of my House's members, we will never be able to form a treaty."

The Exo considered her words and proceeded to lower his rifle.

"Then what do you suppose we do?" he replied.

Vixera looked around, just then an idea came to her.

"Be my prisoner." Vixera suggested, her tone obviously supporting the notion that it was a good idea.

Entity had to agree, it was quite an ingenious proposal. If he did such a thing, she would be able to take him directly to the Kell, and it would be there that they'd be able to negotiate a truce. Entity looked over to Vixera and nodded.

"Do it." he said. He could hear the cries of the Fallen closing in on them; he estimated they had around ten seconds before they were discovered.

As Entity trans-matted his weapons to his storage, he kept 'Last-resort' on his thigh though, Vixera picked up a large piece of drift-wood and placed it across Entity's shoulders, who then proceeded to put his hands on either side, rendering his upper-half immobile.

_Seven seconds…_

Vixera shackled Entity's wrists to the piece of wood with some rope, making sure that they were not too tight; she didn't want to be the one to condemn him if things got a little hectic and her cover was blown.

_Five seconds…_

Entity turned to Vixera.

"Hit me." Entity said in a commanding tone.

"What?" Vixera replied, already coining on.

"They'll never believe that you imprisoned a Guardian without you beating me up. Hit me."

Vixera felt guilty, but she knew what needed to be done. She prepared to punch the Hunter in the face.

_Two seconds…_

Vixera landed a blow on Entity that knocked his helmet clean off his head and damaged the area above his right optic eye-piece. The optic itself actually dangled on a piece of wire that kept it attached to his head. His jaw mouth-piece seemed to have been knocked off one of its hinges and a small hole had appeared in the side of his head. One of Vixera's fingers had ruptured his processor, leaving his head sparking and his 'brain' possibly damaged. Vixera was about to apologise for hitting him much harder than she had intended, but just then, a group of Vandals with her House colours appeared on the ridge. They had an assortment of Wire-rifles and Shrapnel Launchers in their hands. Five of them stood there, looking over their prey, their capes blowing in the wind all the while.

One of the Vandals held up one of his four fists and the group lowered their weapons, following their comrade's orders.

"Ah, Captain Vixera, the Kell was concerned that you had abandoned us, nobody has seen you for days."

The central Vandal spoke with a harsh voice; he was clearly the leader of the small squad. He looked over Vixera, then to Entity.

"What is _that_ thing doing here?" the Vandal spoke angrily, clearly agitated at the very sight of the damaged Exo. He raised his rifle slightly, but otherwise made no move to endanger Entity.

"Hold, friend. He is my prisoner. He is the reason I have been missing the past cycle, I have been tracking him to bring to our Kell. I hope to hand him over to an Archon Priest; I hear they love to experiment on these _droids._" Vixera explained to the lead Vandal.

It was a half-truth, she _had_ been tracking him and she did want to bring him to the Kell. But she had no intention of handing her friend over to an Archon Priest.

The Vandal looked from Entity back to Vixera, looking at her with mild respect. It was rare for a Fallen to capture a Guardian, even more so to capture an Exo. Eventually he nodded his acceptance of her excuse. He turned to head back to the House of Shadows' lair, with Vixera and a badly-damaged Entity following closely.

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"A week's worth of Ether for a small army, and some metal scraps for scrap." A Baron of the House of Years told Sorric, as he handed over the crate containing the said objects. "Your reward, as agreed."

Sorric nodded his thanks to the Baron, who was standing outside the main entrance to their lair. Sorric took the medium-sized crate and hefted it onto his Pike. He then turned back to the Baron.

"The Cache is at co-ordinates 22-North, 36-East, Segment Delta." Sorric said, as he shook hands with the slightly larger Fallen. "I hope to do business with you again."

Sorric turned and mounted his Pike, and then he looked over to the Baron.

"Do you mind me asking what you're going to use those?" he asked.

The Baron seemed to consider the request before answering.

"Well, you've told us that those three Captains were conversing about the strength of their House." The Baron laughed a little. "We're going use their own weapons against them,"

Sorric nodded in understanding before turning to go, revving his Pike.

"Good luck." Sorric shouted, as he sped away from the base.

He chuckled to himself. Little did the House of Years know that Sorric had gone to the cache before proceeding to the Years' lair. There, he had packed away all of the House of Knights weapons into crates and called in a Skiff from his own House to come and pick up the supplies he had so lovingly packed.

He also instructed the pilot of the Skiff to have his crew set proximity charges on the entrance to the cache once they had left with the crates of weapons, ammo and scrap metal. When the Years' troops got there, they'd be blown to bits. There would be no survivors. And then, presumably when the group did not return from the expedition, the Kell for the House of Years would take revenge on the House of Knights for rigging the cache to explode - the rigging that had _actually_ been done by the House of Venom.

Sorric chuckled again, this time with more malevolence; he'd have another contract from them within days.

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"Kneel!" the Vandal that had arrested Entity shouted at the Exo, while hitting him across his back with the butt of the rifle he was holding.

To get to the grand chamber he was now in, Entity had been forced to trudge to the Kell's throne-room. The corridors he had marched through had been full of the spiteful aliens, who jeered and spat at him for killing unknown amounts of their brethren. In reality, he had killed very few Fallen, and had killed none of the House of Shadow's group, Vixera had seen to that. But he had known that that was not the reason they had taunted and heckled him – it was _what_ he stood for, not _who_ he was. He was a Guardian, and who knows how many Fallen had been massacred because of their actions.

But it was all part of the plan, it was necessary.

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He had been presented to the Kell, in his shackles and tied to the piece of drift-wood. The Kell in question had looked at the Exo with pity; the Guardian did not deserve the treatment his soldiers had given him. He was guilty of murdering members of his House, that was obvious, but he would not allow anybody to be so cruelly judged without cause for such prejudice.

To that end, he had ordered all non-essential members of the trial to leave the throne-room and allow him to make his judgement on the Exo. His subordinates followed his orders, leaving only him, his two-out-of-three-Barons, and his Archon Priest. He also asked that Captain Vixera stayed in his presence, as she was the one who had reportedly made the capture.

The Kell stood up out of his throne, and his soldiers in the room bowed, with the exception of the Archon Priest of course, they _were_ equals after all. He strode over to the Guardian, confidence present in his powerful walk.

"Speak," he ordered the Guardian, who only looked over to the large Fallen.

"My name is Entity, I am not here to harm you." The Exo replied, his mechanical voice calm and unwavering. The Kell was surprised that the Guardian was able to speak his language, as were the others in the room, but he quickly realised it must have the work of one of the Guardian curious devices, he couldn't remember what they were called – 'Spectres' or 'Ghosts' or something of the kind.

"I doubt that you are, Guardian. You would not be able to harm me, even if you were not shackled to that wood."

The Exo laughed, drawing suspicious gazes from the other Fallen in the room.

"You are probably right, but it still remains true, I have no wish to harm you – shackled or not."

Now the Kell was curious, and his eyes narrowed in response.

"Then why are you here?" he asked. "Clearly, you have no reinforcements this far from your 'Traveller' and no-one here will save you."

Entity made a quick, invisible glance over to Vixera, who glanced back.

"So the question remains, why are you here, Guardian?" he asked, slightly more agitated now.

"Trust me; you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Entity said, an Exo version of a smile plastered onto his metallic features. "Trust me; I didn't either – at least, not to begin with."

Now, the Exo looked the Kell dead in the eyes. His voice hardened and his tone became suddenly very serious.

"Peace." he said simply.

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All the members of the room, except for the Kell and Archon, burst into a fit of guttural laughter. This went on few a few minutes more before the Kell raised his upper-right arm for silence. Eventually, the room became quiet again.

"I have long conversed with my associate, the Archon, on such a matter." he said, the Barons of the room looked to one another in confusion and suspicion. "We too believe that an alliance between our species would be of mutual benefit."

Vixera was extremely surprised to hear this, and she went to say something, but was quickly cut off by the Baron standing guard behind Entity.

"Sacrilege! You would endanger our House by attempting to co-operate with the Humans? It would surely lead us to ruin!" he shouted at the Kell, who looked over to him and stared daggers.

"Silence, Varseer! You would dare question the motives of your Kell? It is you who would commit sacrilege!" the Kell angrily snarled in reply. The Baron seemed to see sense and kept quiet, for fear of another outburst from his superior. The Kell strode over to Entity, and bent over him. His enormous stature made it difficult for him to converse with the Exo face-to-face.

"While it is true that I have long awaited a chance to co-ordinate a truce with your species, I am no fool. I do not believe that your intentions are honest enough to be trusted." he said as he unbound the ropes that shackled Entity to the slab of wood.

"You must prove your intentions to me before I would agree to any treaty with your race."

Entity stood up and clutched his broken face, trying to piece his appearance back to its normal state. He nodded to the Kell, and then addressed him personally.

"Very well, I will pass word of your wishes to my leader and return with the terms of the accord." Entity spoke, as he finished placing his eye into its socket, now he looked as good as new, except for the jaw that was still hanging off. He would get his Ghost to fix it later. Then, an idea struck him.

"As a show of good faith, would you care to allow one of your subordinates onto my fire-team?" he asked. The Kell looked at him, confused.

"Why, would this help in some way?"

"I think it would. It would show that you are not apprehensive about a future alliance between your House and my species. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Entity said, para-phrasing the Speaker.

The Kell thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly.

"Yes, it would seem like a good idea. Take the Captain that captured you." he ordered.

Vixera stepped forward, a smile on her face beneath her helmet, invisible to all.

"This is Vixera. She is one of my best. I hope she does our House proud." The Kell concluded as he stuck out an open palm for Entity to shake.

Entity took the open hand, shaking it firmly.

"I'm sure she will." Entity said, the Exo equivalent of a smile already forming.

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"Ferrum, remind me why we're doing this again." Erebus sighed. Ferrum looked over to her and grunted his reply; his steely mechanical voice unnerved her – just like everything else about the Exo Warlock.

"You know why. We're here in case anything goes wrong. If we spot a problem, say; a rival House approaching the gates, we send in Josh. Then, while he's beating the crap out of the troops, we start picking them off from our vantage point - up here. Got it?"

Said vantage point was high above the Forgotten Shore on a ridge overlooking the coast. Ferrum and Erebus were watching the area with Sniper-rifles in a derelict hut, whilst Josh was at the base of the cliff, waiting on his Sparrow for a quick extraction or to launch himself at an attacking force.

They'd been playing overwatch on Entity's mission to make contact with the Kell of the House of Shadows, and Erebus had gotten concerned when their new-found Fallen ally had struck Entity across the face. But Ferrum had stopped her from shooting, as he had seen some Shadow Vandals approaching the distant pair.

She had been annoyed at Ferrum, but she was glad that she hadn't fired. Traveller knows that she's not the best shot, no, that was Entity's title. She'd never forgive herself if she fired a stray bullet that ended up shooting her fire-team leader.

She didn't want to hurt him. She liked him – quite a lot, actually. Ever since she'd rescued him from Kyle's beating, the two had become inseparable, and not just on the battlefield. She felt lost when she wasn't in his presence, like the world was caving in on her. So she stayed by his side all throughout the day. And when it came to the night, she could only dream about him.

She wasn't too sure what it was about the Hunter that had gotten her so fixated on him, but she didn't need to know. She was quite content, yet she longed to be with him. Others would think of it as ridiculous, an Exo and a Human? It could never work - and yet…

She sighed again, this time in a way that made Ferrum cast a glance over and raise an eyebrow – well, an Exo eyebrow, but it the same sort of thing either way. He shook his head, and looked back out over the Forgotten Shore.

Then, he thought he saw something, a glint in the sunlight – probably just a reflection off of one of the many grimy glass windows that had shattered in the windows of the derelict vehicles. But it didn't harm to investigate.

Ferrum propped his scope up to his 'eye' and looked over to the site of the glint. He was expecting to see something harmless, like a piece of polished metal or a shard of glass. If he was lucky, it might even be an old loot-crate.

He didn't see what he expected. And there was only one word to come to mind.

"Oh, sh-"

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Josh had been sitting comfortably in his small cave that he was calling home for the time being, dozing lightly, but still alert for any request for help that Ferrum might send his way. His Sparrow was only a few metres away, hovering above the ground in a perplexing fashion, ready to be mounted at a moment's notice.

"-it." Ferrum said softly into his communicator that linked to the rest of the fire-team.

Josh looked up in alarm, wary of any danger that may have been nearby. His Shotgun was in his hands within mere moments.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Erebus spoke in reply, speaking Josh's thoughts. Her voice crackling over the white noise and static of the radio frequency they were using.

"It's a whole Fallen battalion. They've got a couple of Barons leading them." There was a moment's pause before Ferrum continued. "I can't tell what House they are from this distance, but they seem to be heading towards the House of Shadows' lair."

Josh narrowed his eyes beneath his Titan helm. Things were about to get _hectic_.

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"Hey, boss, we have multiple incoming contacts. You might wanna tell your buddies that they've got company coming – and they do _not_ look friendly." Ferrum reported to Entity, who had exited the throne-room with Vixera and her lieutenants in tow. He brought up his Ghost to reply.

"Understood. What's their ETA?" he asked.

There was a considerable pause.

"Uh, they're sending in a few squads of Pike's before their main force gets here. The Pikes'll be here in no time, but the infantry will probably get here in about eight minutes, tops." Ferrum spoke urgently. His voice was unwavering though – but he was an Exo, they weren't built to feel fear.

To fear is to die.

"All right, I'll work on persuading the Kell to mobilise his forces and set up defences. In the meantime, you, Erebus and Josh need to work on eliminating those Pikes." Entity ordered in a stern voice.

"But, what about the infan-"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, just follow my orders. Entity out." He quickly ordered before allowing his Ghost to dissipate into thin air. He turned to Vixera, whose lieutenants had already departed to make preparations for battle.

"All right, Fenrir will do what they can to slow the scouting forces, but you and I will have to persuade your Kell to ready his forces and set up defences for the lair."

Vixera nodded, already knowing what needed to be done.

Together, they proceeded back into the throne-room, only to be cut off by the Kell's Guards. The Kell dismissed his troops and calmly bid that the duo approached his seated form. They did so, and Entity started to inform him of the situation.

"Kell of Shadows, my fire-team has spotted a large force of Fallen headed this way. They'll do what they can to slow them down, but it will rely on your actions to save this lair." Entity spoke hastily. "We have about-"

He checked his onboard clock

"-seven minutes before they get here. We need to be ready before it happens."

The Kell nodded in agreement.

"You are right, we must prepare. No doubt it is the House of Vigil, here to try and seize my territory." he spoke angrily. "We cannot let that happen, Guardian."

Entity nodded.

"Do you have anything that we can reinforce ourselves with? Any Devil-Walkers at all?"

The Kell huffed.

"Of course, but they have not been used in many years for we have never had the need for them in a long while." He stood up and addressed him directly. "Do not doubt that my men will be unable to repel this attack on their own, but your help would be greatly appreciated. It is not every day that another House will attempt to take over another House's territory. They will have thought this through; they will have planned extensively on anything we could do. We would not be able to counter this attack easily."

Entity shifted, bringing out his rifle and other weapons from his Vault. The Kell continued his speech.

"But we have something they would never expect, and therefore would not have prepared for. You."

Entity nodded, knowing how short he was on time.

"Then let's get going." he spoke calmly.

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_Crack!_

The sound of the rifle going off in her hands sent shivers down Erebus' spine. The knowledge that every hit she scored on a Dreg or Vandal resulted in their death was something harrowingly beautiful. She knew that she was nowhere near the marksmanship that Entity possessed, and that she couldn't make herself look at the burst of ethereal white light as another Fallen head popped off its shoulders.

But she was a Guardian – and that title came with the responsibility to protect the Traveller, by whatever means necessary.

_Crack! Crack!_

Another Fallen Captain to add to her growing tally of kills. She smiled grimly to herself, it had to be done. It was her duty.

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"Josh, how are you doing?" Ferrum asked, his sniper rifle booming its own chorus of death as he asked it. As if in reply, a large explosion could be seen close by to one of the rusted ships. The explosion was courtesy of Josh's Rocket Launcher firing a missile directly into the path of one of the Pikes, which blew up in a second explosion. The wreckage of the vehicle could be seen launching upwards with the explosion, and then crashing down on top of another Pike – causing considerable damage. Ferrum chuckled to himself.

"Show-off." he said quietly. Josh only laughed in reply.

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Entity sprinted out of the doors of the lair at a break-neck pace, his Sniper already on his back and his Scout-Rifle in his hands. Vixera followed in hot pursuit, her own upgraded wire-rifle in her hands.

Entity turned to her, ready to impart his orders. However, he soon realised that he didn't need to, as she was already cloaked and heading towards a more defendable location with her lieutenants in tow.

Instead, Entity opened up a comm-link to the rest of his fire-team.

"Erebus, Ferrum, how's the Pike situation coming along?" he asked.

"Just cleaning up the last remnants now. Should be able to focus on the main force in no time." Ferrum quickly replied. Erebus only responded with a crack of her rifle and (subsequently) another Pike blowing up.

Entity stood up and looked over the top of the crate he was using for cover and fire a burst at the first thing he saw, which happened to be a couple of Dregs, which incidentally, happened to be preparing a few grenades. He crouched back into cover and reloaded.

"Josh, what about you?"

"I'm moving on the vanguard of the main force, it should buy the Shadow's a bit more preparation time." he replied through heavy pants and grunts of effort.

It was then that Entity noticed the shimmering of a light-bending cloak rushing towards him. He could tell that it wasn't one of the Shadow's due to the speed it was running at him with, and so he quickly lashed out with 'Last Resort', stabbing the creature through the base of his chin and into its brain cavity – a quick, clean death. It cloak automatically died upon the Vandal's death and Entity saw that it was a Vandal for the House of Vigil – its bright purple cloth attached to its hip confirmed his suspicions.

"Negative, they're already here, plus I doubt that the Shadows need any more prep time, they seem pretty good already."

"Understood, making my way back to you guys."

Nodding to himself, Entity vaulted over the crate he was using as cover and made his way over to the frontline, where Vixera and a few other captains were taking charge. He thought he saw one of the Baron's there too, but he couldn't be sure.

"Vixera. Sit-rep, now." Entity ordered as he approached her, rifle already firing at any enemy stupid enough to come into his cross-hairs.

"We're taking few casualties, but I think that that's about to change." Vixera shot the head off of another Captain some fifty yards away. "My lieutenants have scouted the main force that is approaching and report that they have sufficient numbers to overwhelm us."

"All right. Your Kell is working on getting some walkers up and running, but until then, all we have to do is hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive."

"Easier said than done, Entity." Erebus chimed in over the comm-link.

"We're Guardians-" Entity said, looking over to Vixera, "-all of us. Impossible is just another word for 'Monday morning'."

That earned a chuckle from the rest of Fenrir.

"We can do this; we've just got to be brave." Entity told them.

"Jeez, dude. Easy on the propaganda, you sound like the Speaker." Ferrum told him, earning another chuckle from the group.

"Be that as it may, my friend, the fact still remains the same; we_ can_ do this." Entity replied, the resolve evident in his voice.

"If you say so," Erebus said quietly as she lined up her sights on yet another Fallen, "'cause things are about to get a little bit hectic…" she commented as she looked out upon the two thousand strong force that was marching towards the Lair of Shadow's.

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	9. Chapter 9

A Soldier of the Light

Chapter 9

The army of Vigil was fast approaching the frontlines, and the Shadow's had successfully beaten back their main scouting parties without too much trouble as they had taken minor casualties. A few Vandals had been taken away on stretchers for emergency Ether supplements, but so far, that was the worst thing to happen. The guerrilla tactics that the Shadow's used easily overwhelmed the small groups of Vigils that dared to approach their Lair – but it would be no match for the tidal wave of infantry that would storm the area in less than three minutes.

Entity had been co-ordinating fields of fire for the past few minutes, designating which areas troops should focus fire on. He had also asked that multiple barricades be set up inside the corridors to the throne-room, he didn't want a sneaky party of Vigil gaining access to the Kell before the fight was over – it would make for a short battle.

Sniper towers had been erected and occupied by the best shots of the House. Vixera had joined the tower on the North-face, ready for the coming storm. Entity could already hear the crack of her wire-rifle, sending more and more Vigil soldiers to an untimely grave.

Erebus and Ferrum had retreated from their ridge and were now by Entity's side - well, Erebus was. Ferrum was busy setting up a carefully calculated defensive perimeter, ordering Dregs and Vandals around the edge of the protective fortifications that shielded the boundary. Entity trusted the Warlock to make the right decisions regarding the defence of the Lair, if his icy-cold approach to battle was anything to go by.

"Entity, where's Josh?" Erebus asked him, breaking him from his tactical hypnosis.

It was true, Josh was unaccounted for. The Exo trusted that the Titan had been able to get to a safe location to defend against the oncoming force.

"He'll be fine. It's us you need to focus on." Entity said, thinking for a moment. "Here, take this." he said, as he handed her his 'Arbiter'.

She looked at him in shock and then at the beefy red Hand-Cannon.

"Entity, I can't. _This_, it means so much to you." she said, pushing the weapon away from her slightly.

Entity looked down at the firearm. It was true, he supposed, the gun meant a lot to him. Only because it had been given to him by an older Exo Warlock who insisted he took it. The Warlock had been a good person; he was one of the best in his field. He had been offered a place in the Cryptarch ranks. Apparently, he had knowledge about Cryptographic-Archaeology that rivalled even Master Rahool's abilities.

Sage was his name. Sage-22.

He shook his head, shaking off the memory, he had to focus.

"I'm giving it to you so you can give it me back, okay?" he told her.

She smirked; she was quite beautiful, he admitted.

"Plus, it has a pretty mean punch too – so, you know, that doesn't hurt either." he chuckled, "Come on, get ready, they'll be here any minute." Entity instructed, his authoritative air returning to him.

Erebus nodded and polarised her visor, hiding her face from view. This saddened Entity in a way, as it hid her beauty. She took the Hand-Cannon from his mechanical hand and strode away.

"Ferrum, you ready?" Entity asked over his comm-link.

"All good. I've ordered these guys to set up criss-crossing fields of fire, it should maximise the casualties they inflict." Ferrum responded.

"Good idea. Vixera, how long do we have?" he asked, changing the channel to contact the Fallen Captain instead.

"Not long, I would advise that you position yourself where you can make the best use of that Human Wire Rifle – and hurry, they're almost here." Vixera said in a commanding tone, Entity may have been the leader, but he wasn't afraid to take orders from his team, they were his friends after all.

Entity didn't even bother to reply. Instead, he jogged over to a different sniper tower that was inhabited by a few Vandals with wire-rifles. They nodded to him as he clambered to the top of the tower. Entity took position, and got a good look at the opposition for the first time.

Hundreds, if not thousands of Vigil Fallen were approaching the Lair.

They were being led by some Barons, prominent figures amongst the Vandals that surrounded them. Further back, Entity could make out the misshapen hunks of metal and death that were the Devil-Walkers. There seemed to be three in total.

_We'll cross that bridge when we come to it; _Entity thought to himself.

"Everybody, hold fire!" Entity commanded. Immediately, the fortification he was standing on fell quiet.

"Ready, aim…"

He watched, unwavering, as the first surge of Vigil soldiers approached. The Vigil Fallen approached at a reckless pace, they'd be upon them in seconds.

"…FIRE!" Entity screamed.

Instantly, hundreds of Wire-rifles, Shrapnel Launchers, Shock Pistols and Traveller-knows-what-else unleashed hellfire on the dozens of approaching Fallen. Many of them fell down dead within an instant; others were downed after another moment.

"Reload!" Entity called out.

_Where the hell is Josh?;_ he thought to himself, as another wave of Vigil's charged at the Shadow Lair.

"FIRE!" Entity shouted again.

_It's going to be a long day…_

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Erebus looked over the battle with frightened eyes. She was perched on a high ridge overlooking the raging battle below. She could hear Entity's orders of 'fire' from this distance, which was well over a hundred metres away. His war-cry was often followed up by the deaths of dozens of Vigil soldiers, but they were sending more and more troops with each wave. Soon they would be overrun. The Kell _needed_ to send out those Walkers – and soon, or else they'd lose this battle, and any possibility of a treaty with it.

_Speaking of Walkers;_ Erebus mused to herself as she turned her scope to the vast army that fast-approached the Shadow's Lair.

She couldn't tell how far back it went, as the twists and turns of the valley they were walking through hid their numbers, but she could guess that there were a lot.

Suddenly, she made out the misshapen humps of a Walker amongst all of the Vigil infantry. She took aim at its legs, pulling the trigger once she was satisfied with her angle.

_Crack!_

The boom of her rifle shot the bullet out of the barrel and straight into the foreleg of one of the Walkers. She had equipped armour-piercing rounds that penetrated- well, everything.

It took a moment for the Walker to react. It had recoiled slightly from the effect the bullet had had on it, but before Erebus could squeeze off another shot, the large cannon on the Walker's back turned towards her position, and a red aiming-laser appeared on her forehead. Her eyes widened in shock as she literally jumped over the side of the cliff-face, a few hundred metres above the barren surface of Earth.

No sooner had she leapt, had a large explosion erupted in the space that she had been crouching in, engulfing it in shrapnel and flame. She felt the heat of the blast through the robes on her back, warming her skin. The kinetic force of the detonation had pushed her forwards, knocking her off-course and propelling her towards the infantry below. Landing wouldn't have been a problem, but she slipped into the throes of unconsciousness before she hit the ground. She plummeted down towards the infantry, with only the armoured figures below to cushion her uncontrolled fall.

The last thing she thought before slipping into oblivion was Entity.

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Ferrum saw the explosion from his position on a different fortification to Entity. He widened his eyes in shock when he realised what had happened. He spoke urgently into the comm-link that connected him to his fire-team leader.

"Entity, did you see that? A Walker just opened fire on Erebus' position, she's been compromised! We have to see if she's okay."

There was only radio silence in reply, only the white noise of the radio frequency to welcome his message.

"Entity, I repeat; Erebus has been compromised!" Ferrum repeated.

There was a roar of rage heard over the frequency. Hell, he could hear it _without_ the comm-link. The roar was full of anger and hatred. In the next moment, Ferrum saw Entity mounted on his Sparrow darting straight for the ridge where Erebus had been positioned before the explosion.

"If _anything_ has happened to her, I'll kill them _all_ myself." Entity spoke quietly into the radio before cutting the channel. Ferrum shuddered. Entity's response had sounded almost… human. He knew that his Exo friend cared about the welfare of his team-mate, but he couldn't help but wonder if it ran deeper than mere camaraderie. He wondered if Entity would risk so much to save him, if he were in Erebus' position.

His thoughts were cut off by a Vandal sniper firing centimetres above his head, scorching the fabric on his helmet, forcing him to duck down into cover.

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Josh was in a difficult position to say the least.

He was stuck in a cave that was around fifty metres from the Shadow Lair. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but the way there was rammed with masses of Vigil fighters. Which wouldn't have usually been a problem either, as his trusty Shotgun would have been able to mow them down with ease. But, alas, he had been severely injured by a Walker that was twenty metres away – which was probably still aiming at the entrance to the cave he was inside.

He had been fired at when attempting to return to the Lair, and had subsequently had his left arm blasted off in the chaos. He'd been losing blood for the past ten minutes, and he had attempted to plaster the wound with his Titan Mark that hung at his belt. But all of his efforts had been futile due to his lack of medical knowledge.

A few Fallen infantry had gotten curious and had attempted to enter the cave, only to be mown down by a rather inaccurate blast from Josh's Auto-rifle. He knew he'd have to get moving within the next few minutes, or else he'd lose consciousness and die. He didn't want to risk needing a revive in here, as one of the Fallen may take his Ghost – or even destroy it. He had to get moving, and soon.

Grunting, Josh stood up and replaced his Shotgun for his trusty Auto-rifle. He would have a hard time controlling the bursts that it shot, but he would have a worse time trying to reload, as he only had one hand available. Josh moved forwards towards the mouth of the small cave and crouched. He made his way over to cave entrance, half-expecting to see a Fallen Walker aiming at his face. But all he saw was the masses of Vigil soldiers rushing towards the Shadow Lair, all too preoccupied with their attack to spot him emerging from his temporary home.

Nodding to himself, Josh crept back into the cave, looking around for something he could use to aid in his escape. He turned, looking around. All he saw were a few bushels of spin-metal emerging out of the ground. His eyes widened.

_Spin-metal._

"Ghost, I need you to help me with something…" he muttered as his personal acquaintance materialised out of thin-air.

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Entity made his way up to the ridge where Erebus had last been seen. The explosion had reduced this portion of the edge to ruins. Dark scorch-marks blackened the ground, and small fires had caught on small hedges and bushes surrounding him. But Entity didn't see any of this; he didn't see the fires, or the rubble. For a moment, he didn't even notice the masses of Vigil Fallen charging towards the Shadow Lair. He didn't _care._

All he could see was the charred remains of the sniper-rifle he had given to Erebus before they had come on this operation.

He slowly walked over to the broken rifle and picked it up; looking over the damaged and bent remains of the gun he had given to Erebus. He stared at the ruined gun, and slowly looked up, to look out over the Vigil soldiers that were setting up a *****Forward Operating Base near the mouth of the canyon that led into the Forgotten Shore area.

***(A/N: Forward Operating Base = FOB)**

He narrowed his 'eye-lids' at the rudimentary building and then looked back at the broken rifle in his hands. Then a malevolent thought entered his mind.

They'd pay for this, they'd pay for _her_.

"Blood _must_ have blood." Entity said to himself quietly before he began moving in the general direction of the structure.

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Erebus slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she noticed was the pain. It was everywhere on her body, and it hurt like hell. Deep cuts and harsh bruises covered her skin. She could feel her pulse throbbing all over her body, and it hurt with every heart-beat.

The second thing she noticed was her surroundings.

She was shackled to a wall in a dark corner of a… _throne-room._ Her armour on her upper-half had been stripped from her, leaving her face and arms in clear view. The only thing that covered her decency was a moderately tight tank-top, as well as some bandages that were wrapped around certain places in her arms to avoid her armour from chafing.

The third thing she noticed - was the company she was in. Around five Fallen Vandals surrounded her, leering and staring at her small but appealing body. Suddenly, she felt like the top covering her cleavage didn't feel like it was there. She felt like no amount of layers would be enough to halt the prying gazes of these aliens.

Erebus attempted to make herself as small, and as irrelevant as possible. She felt as if she wanted to shrink to the size of a peanut to avoid the Vandals attention.

Then, one of the Vandals broke away from the main group and approached Erebus cautiously. His gaze still focused on her moderately sized chest. The Vandal slowly approached her and crouched down until he was at eye-level with her, his eyes flicked up to look straight into hers. The blue eyes that seemed to pierce into her very soul were not unlike the stare that Entity would give her from time to time.

Suddenly, his lower set of arms shot out and grasped her legs, spreading them apart. Erebus' eyes widened in shock and fear, these aliens had stripped enough of her dignity already. The Vandals eyes focused on her pelvis, and he inhaled a long breath. Erebus began to get uncomfortable, she didn't like where this was going. Then, the Vandals upper arms moved up to her waist and then tried to remove the waist-band of the trousers that covered what dignity she had left. Erebus started to wriggle and squirm, noises escaping her mouth - noises of terror and fear.

"N-no… please! Just… stop, please!" Erebus pleaded with the probing alien. Her pleas fell on deaf ears as her squirming increased in ferocity. "Stop! N-no! Oh, god. Oh, Entity, help me. Please…"

Then, just as her would-be intruder began to gain some leverage with the trousers, the automated doors that led into the room hissed open, and a Kell appeared, guarded by his Baron that was not partaking in the attack on the Shadow's Lair. The other members of his guard also stepped through, four in total.

As soon as the doors opened and the Kell for the House of Vigil stepped through, the marauding Vandal snapped up and hastily strode over to his companions that had been watching the unfolding scene with curiosity, and no small amount of perturbed intrigue.

The Kell strode over to his throne and sat down in it, lazily muttering angrily to himself in a language that Erebus did not understand. The presence of the Kell alarmed her, and she backed into the corner she inhabited. The fear of the Vandal was replaced with the fear of what the Kell may do to her in order to get information on the City. Erebus felt something dig into the small of her back; she shuffled around some more in order to work out what the thing that was poking her would have looked like if she had been holding it. Her eyes widened in revelation.

It was the Hand-Cannon that Entity had given her.

But before she could try to pry it out of its holster, Erebus heard some kind of chaos unfolding outside of the doors of the throne-room. The Kell's guards and the Baron looked at the entrance to the room in alarm. Clearly something was wrong.

Then, the doors to the throne-room hissed open once again, and a figure stepped through. Erebus gasped at what she saw.

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"Will it do?" Ghost asked Josh questioningly.

Josh shrugged a few times to make sure that his new appendage was comfortable. He jumped up and down a couple of times to check that it wouldn't fall off, and then he brought his mechanical hand up to his visor, which was riddled with cracks and hairline fractures. He made a fist, and punched a wall opposite him.

"Yeah, it'll do." he said, with a smirk.

He had instructed his Ghost to fashion him a new metal appendage for him to use. He had had some spare Plasteel Plating handy, as well as some Sapphire Wire he had 'found' from some Hunters he had defeated in the Crucible. All of these ingredients culminated in his Ghost being able to create a metal limb for him. It had been surgically hard-wired onto his nervous system in his shoulder, and now he was able to control it as fluidly and as naturally as a real arm. It was lighter, but stronger than Titanium and he had used some pieces of Hadronic Essence he had been given from Ferrum to integrate into the arm's technology. The essence allowed him to channel his natural Light abilities through his arm and into his hand so he would be able to perform his Fist of Havoc Super Ability, as well as perform Storm Fists and all other kinds of mischief.

He grinned to himself.

"You know, Ghost, I think we need to test out this baby. Don't you think?" Josh asked his Ghost, who only chirped in agreement. Josh nodded and shouldered his rifle. He studied the battlefield, searching for a formidable target to try out his new limb on. He scanned the theatre of war and found what he was looking for, a misshapen hump amongst all of the infantry the Vigil had to offer…

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Ferrum downed another three Vandals before ducking back down into cover and reloading his Pulse Rifle. He had been constantly fighting for the past ten minutes, and in that time, the Vigil army had been relentless, but the Shadows were strong, despite their numbers. Vixera had come down from her tower and had joined Ferrum's side. She had slung her wire-rifle over her back, and had taken up a discarded gun that had belonged to a lowly Dreg.

"Guardian, we must keep fighting. My Kell reports that his Walkers will be ready imminently." Vixera reported, her voice tired but hard. She wouldn't give up. She'd never surrender, and neither would he.

Ferrum nodded to her. He knew that the victory of this battle would decide the outcome of this treaty. They had to win; it wasn't just a matter of showing off the Guardian's skill in battle. It was for the future, for the very possibility of peace – for truce.

For _hope._

He stood up and vaulted over the cover he was using as protection. He summoned up his power within himself, channelling his power and mystic abilities into his hands. Then, into energy. Then, into a single annihilating blast of supremacy. His Nova Bomb shot out at the gathering forces of Vigil, a whistling beacon of complete destruction.

_Boom!_

The forceful impact of the purple missile disintegrated dozens of Fallen. Others were knocked off of their feet, forced to pick themselves back up.

A war-cry began, originating from a few individuals in the Shadows force, but it was soon taken up by the others. In the next moment, they were charging, unwavering, unafraid at the possibility of death or oblivion. Ferrum also found himself roaring the cry amongst the ranks of Fallen rushing past him. He also found himself sprinting into the masses of Vigil infantry.

The Shadows were unrivalled in close-quarters combat. They cut down Vigil after Vigil without pausing for breath. Soon, they were covered in blood, but it was not their own. It was the blood of their enemies, and Ferrum felt terrified and elated at the same time. He was shooting Vigil infantry at every angle, droves of dead or dying warriors lay at his feet.

He'd never felt more alive.

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The red mist had descended over his mind; he was cutting down Kell's Guards without a moment's hesitation. All caution for his own safety gone from his mind, all he could focus on was the Kell – who only leered at the Exo.

Entity had stepped into the throne-room expecting a fight, not a massacre.

None of them had stood a chance against the unrestricted, unhindered rage and blinding speed the Hunter took full advantage of. Using 'Last-Resort', Entity cut down the guards with all-too-obvious ease and grace. The Baron put up a fight, but like the others before him, he also fell, ethereal blood seeping from a deep gash in his throat. He sank to his knees clutching the wound, desperately trying to keep in the air in his lungs - but he eventually suffocated and fell onto his stomach.

Entity gave a hard stare to the Kell of the House of Vigil. The Kell in question calmly stood up from his throne and drew his dual shock-swords. If he wasn't brimming with the rage of Erebus' apparent decimation, he would have remembered how much this reminded him of the duel he had contested in just after his first resurrection.

Suddenly, the Kell lunged at the Exo, who wasn't ready for the strike and was consequently jabbed by the end of the sword in his right hand. The pain of the wound registered in his core processor, and Entity decided to manually shut off the receptors beneath his 'skin'.

Then, an explosion rocked the ground beneath them, granting Entity an opportunity to counter the attack that had impaled him. Shoving the blade deeper into his body, Entity crept towards the Kell, inch by agonisingly slow inch. Eventually, Entity got close enough to the Kell to bring his own blade up to the Kell's stomach. Using a large amount of his strength, Entity forced his blade into the large Fallen's abdomen. It slid through the Kell's chest armour and into the enormous warrior's belly with a wet _'thunk'._

The Kell screamed in pain and anger. Entity brought the large Fallen to eye-level.

"Where. Is. She?" Entity spat out. The Kell let out a short, raspy cackle.

"You, Guardian, blind!" he grunted in broken English. "Should… pay more… attention." he chuckled. Then, he weakly raised a pointed finger to where Erebus resided. Entity looked over to where he was pointing, and saw the beaten and horribly bruised Erebus. The Exo's eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in anger as he turned back to the clearly dying Kell. He obviously must have ruptured some kind of vital organ, probably the heart.

Entity 'smirked'. A difficult gesture, considering his metallic facial features. It worked in his favour, as it just made the smile all the more ominous-looking.

"Thank you." Entity stated simply. He withdrew his blade and held the Kell by his throat. Entity then slid his machete into the back of the large Fallen's neck, slicing the Kell's neck vertebrae. It would be a slow, agonisingly painful death for the alien – it was no more than it deserved. It wouldn't be able to move or cry for help. Entity dropped the Kell and walked over to Erebus.

She looked at him with wide, awe-filled eyes. Entity crouched in front of her, bringing up his machete to slice her rope shackles. No sooner had he sheathed his blade did Erebus propel herself into a tight bear-hug with the Exo. The action caught the Exo off-guard, but he quickly returned the gesture.

"I love you, Entity." Erebus told him. "I love you, so much."

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End file.
